A fiery love
by Yumiko Kazumi
Summary: WTH! First she nearly drowned and then she ended up in One Piece!Just great...Oh by the way Luffy isn't even born, Garp and Whitebeard are young and Marco wants to screw her...wait...WHAT? characters don't belong to me, but to Oda. apart OC
1. Prolog: sailing trip with consequences

Prolog:

The blonde girl smiled. This was the best vacation ever!

It was spring holidays and the young girl, her three best friends and her older brother had gone sailing in the Mediterranean Sea. Everything was simply perfect. Midori yawned and stretched her body a little. She hastily grabbed her One Piece manga before it could fall into the water, but the girl couldn't dwell on the fact it didn't fall, because she was thrown into the sea.

Her angry and surprised scream echoed over the sea.

"SUZUUU!"

Splash.

Suzu sat at the point on the rail where Midori had been herself just moments before. She surfaced and glared at her. If she wouldn't have had to breathe, she would have growled.

One day Midori was going to kill her.

While she laughed at her soaked friend, some strands of her dark brown hair fell in her face. A moment later Suzu joined her in the ocean.

"Whoa!"

Splash.

Keiko and Miu chuckled.

"You know Suzu… now I understand why you always throw us in the water. It's really fun!" Keiko said. Miu only chuckled. She'd never been a very verbal person.

Splash. Splash.

Now there were four girls in the sea.

"Hmm… Keiko's right." said my brother with a mild chuckle.

"RYU!" we all protested.

"Get us out of here!"

He smirked and looked like he was thinking about something really difficult.

"OI!" Midori screamed. "Get us out!"

He chuckled again and grabbed her outstretched hand. Each of them was pulled back at the ship.

Back on the ship Midori started handing her friends wash cloths to dry themselves. First she handed Keiko one who instantly started drying her unruly reddish-brown locks and she threw another at Suzu for kicking her into the water. She grinned in satisfaction, as the wash cloth hit her face with a loud 'smack'. Keiko laughed, while Suzu chased after Midori to get revenge.

Miu on the other hand only smiled mildly as usual and took a third wash cloth for herself to dry her silver blond chin length hair.

In the end there was only one cloth left which Midori took after she had successfully escaped Suzu and her new attempts to drown her. Okay… maybe Miu had stopped her and talked her into a game of chess. Chess-obsessed-chick…

The blonde girl shook her had and dried herself like the rest of her friends.

After that everything went back to normal. Suzu and Miu played chess, stopping Suzu from doing something stupid, Ryu was checking their course and Keiko was reading her cheesy romances.  
She smiled relaxed and went back to her former position at the rail grabbing her manga to read further.

'It's really perfect…Hopefully it will get a little more interesting and adventurous' I leaned back against the rail 'sadly that's highly unlikely'

She sighed.  
When you read the One Piece mangas too often, it **had** to be normal to get bored on a normal, uneventful sailing trip.

Let's be honest! This was going to be everything, but a power straining or fascinating vacation. Her former contentedness to be here on this ship slowly but surely subsided into mild dissatisfaction.

With an annoyed groan the blonde let her head sunk back onto the rail. The other were right, her expectations were simply too high and like always she was in her own way again.  
As they could survive a storm and get out of it without a scratch like the strawhats?

She heaved another sigh. Our 'human' world was so boring.  
To live in One Piece would be much more interesting! And adventurous and funny and…!

A sudden scream pulled me cruelly from my own little world.

"COME HERE! **NOW**!"

All four girls jumped to their feet looking slightly irritated, though alarmed.

Neither of them had recognized the dark clouds now fully shutting out the sun and the fast rising of the waves.  
They were in the middle of a storm. A very big storm.  
"Shit!" Ryu cursed.

"What happened?" Keiko fought her way over the deck.

"We lost contact to the cost guards!"

"We're so fucked up…" Suzu meant breathlessly.

Finally everybody had reached the only man aboard and for a moment it seemed like they wanted to say goodbye for the last time, as a bad premonition in the back of their minds suggested.

They continued standing there unmoving, as their bodies, already knowing the inevitable was going to happen, refused to listen to their brains. At least none of them was saying something sappy.

All of sudden Midori was thrown forward and crashed like the other girls against the rail, yet they had no time to recover, because another stronger wave hit the boat and they were thrown overboard.  
In the last moment they could grip the rail, but they were barely hanging and Ryu was too far away to get to them in time…

Miu's hand slipped and when Suzu desperately tried to rescue her she lost her grip too. Seconds later they were both swallowed by the sea.

Midori stared wide-eyed at spot they had vanished and only registered Keiko's scream on the sidelines.

Luckily her older brother was finally able to grab their hands and to prevent them from joining the other two. First he lifted his little sister back up on the deck, while she was still standing under shock. At the moment he leaned back down to also pull Keiko back, a jolt went through the entire ship and both were thrown overboard.

Wide eyes stared back at the sea, her mind not able to compensate the situation. A sob left her throat and was instantly swallowed by the storm. Seawater splashed into her face mixing with silent tears of anger and worry.

This moment, this whole trip felt like a bad movie scene and the worst thing was that….  
She was alone.  
Alone in this terrible storm and so lost…

Because of her state she didn't recognize the great wave sweeping over the ship, before it was too late. With a strong push her body was thrown over the rail.

She sunk fast.

Underwater currents pulled the blonde girl deeper and deeper. The air was brutally pressed from her lungs and circled in the form of bubbles higher and higher. Back to the surface.  
From this perspective the sea even seemed peaceful…  
She tried to leave her eyes open, while the burning in her lungs grew and grew.  
Black spots appeared in her vision until every feeling in her body died down and she lost consciousness. However, she was able to register a last thing before everything went black.

Glowing water swirls had sucked her in.

* * *

A man dressed in a blue and white uniform leaned over the girl feeling her pulse.

Shoulder length blonde hair darkened by water stuck to her unnaturally pale face. The girl shivered in her oblivious state . She must have been shipwrecked, though the man couldn't identify her clothes -He'd never seen clothes like that- and yet she was definitely no pirate.

He pulled his hand back and lifted her up. With fast steps he carried her to the infirmary.

On his way there he came by a big man wearing a suit and a white coat with the word 'justice' on his back.

"I fished her out of the water, Vice Admiral!" He answered at the questioning gaze.


	2. Chapter 1: a headless rescue

'**Thoughts'**

_**flashback **_

"**talking"**

* * *

The blonde girl sighed deeply and dipped the mop back into the water bucket.  
She had already been a _guest_ aboard this vessel for a whole month.

Guest…

'Yeah sure…' she snorted '…as I wanted to be rescued by them!'

With another unhappy sound she thought back at how it had happened that she joined the **marines** anyway.

* * *

_Midori stared dumfounded at Garp -yes, __**Garp**__.  
This couldn't be real, this had to be a dream, and probably she was in a coma or something like that. Not even her crazy brain could come up with __**this**__!_

"_Girl?"_

_The blonde snapped back from her shocked state and directed her attention back at the marine in front of her. She blinked stupidly at his expecting gaze. _

_Her hand made slowly, ever so slowly, its way up her arm, when it reached its destination, it pinched the arm. Hard.  
Midori twitched in pain, but nothing changed._

_Shit…_

_Now it was official… She was __**not **__dreaming…_

_The middle-aged looked irritated because of her strange behavior, before he burst into laughter. _

"_Bwahahahaha….it's not often that I fish such strange half-drowned girls out of the ocean.", he said still laughing. _

_The blonde couldn't help but smile. He was just like she had imagined him to be in _real life_._

"_So what's your name?"_

"_Midori", she answered immediately._

"So Midori, because of the terrible storm…"

'_Why does he know of the storm?'_

"…_I assume your ship wrecked and so you have to stay with us for a while…"_

'_Do I have a choice…?'_

"…_Hmm…. You'll have to work for us…"_

'_Okay, fin…. Wait…WHAT?'_

"… _So now that's discussed. I'll get somebody to show you your sleeping place. You also need new close!"_

_He smiled brightly at her completely ignoring her obvious discomfort. _

'_HELLO?' Her mind screamed. 'I am not getting asked?'_

_Garp still ignored and simply left the room. He apparently thought that everything had been made clear. What he said, was going to be her future.  
Aah… What great prospects._

_Wait…_

_Midori sucked in her breath. _

_No….NOOO!_

'_I AM OFFICIALLY A MARINE NOW!… oh fuck, why does it always happen to me?'_

_Ignoring her tired body she rolled on her belly and screamed with all her might into her pillow. Maybe not the quietest way to release her frustration about her situation, but the closest thing she could do.  
Not that she really could do anything.  
She was alone in a world she never thought could be real and the worst thing was that she didn't know if her friends were alive. Garp hadn't mentioned any other castaways on the ship.  
By this thought her screaming turned into sobs and sobs into a breakdown._

_Even for this normally proud and strong girl was the thought to have lost her friends not bearable._

_Later- it was already dark outside- she couldn't tell anymore how long she had laid the crying until no tears were left. Now she just felt empty and alone, but giving up already?_

_No, that wasn't like her. She would find her friends, dead or alive- though she didn't think about the first choice much- and she would find a way back. One way or another._

_Until then her origin and her goals would be tugged away inside her mind, for nobody else to know._

_Didn't shipwrecking eventually cause amnesia?_

_Well, she would find out how gullible the marines were. Hopefully gullible enough to let it slip…_

_With red, puffy eyes and sigh on her lips she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep._

* * *

From today that night is now dated back two weeks. Her usual good mood had come back by now, most of it at least, and she hadn't really thought about her friends. Not that she had had the time, to begin with.

Every single day she cleaned the deck from the morning until the late evening and after that she was too tired to care about **anything**. Although, she wasn't sure, if it was good or bad that she had to scrub the deck every single day, but on the other hand she was too busy to care about her worries and she had, at least, something to do unlike other people…

She even assumed that she had to e the only one who was busy or even did something **useful** at all, if you considered that the only thing that happened from time to time was a soldier taking a nap on the rail and falling into the water.  
Quite a funny side, the blonde had to admit, but a marine looking like drowned dog didn't erase the problem of being in the _**wrong**_ world. She sighed coming to halt with her scrubbing. It took all her willpower not to act on her crazy feelings inside which wisely told her to grab the sponge throw it at the next best marine and scream. Loud.

Not very smart, but definitely a very fulfilling thing to do.

If Garp would mind a little freak-out? She could also drown herself in the water bucket! Maybe Midori should ask him for his consent…  
Would probably be a very stupid idea, typically this stuck-up marines and their absolute justice. She groaned inwardly. She couldn't help but dislike the marines, not because they were unfair or mean to her, but because she simply was a free spirit and all this rules were nothing she could live with for a longer period.  
Another Sigh. Hopefully they would reach land soon and the girl could get off this vessel and then she would start searching for her friends, if nothing got in between, that is.

A sudden call interrupted her crazy thinking and made her heartbeat fasten.

"PIRATESHIP AHEAD!"

This couldn't be! She was going to meet real pirates! Holy shit! But whom…?

"IT'S WHITEBEARD!"

These words made her heart pound inside her chest and the beat sounded like drums in her ears. This…wow… plainly wow. She was going to meet **the** Whitebeard pirates, her favorite crew apart from the Strawhats. Oh god. A wide grin spread across her face.

"Everybody to the arms! Midori to me!"

Garp's demanding sounding face broke her out of her daydream.  
Still grinning like an idiot the blonde girl walked over to him.

"I want you to hide and watch. There's nothing you can do and I'd rather not put your life in the line."

Either he overlooked her good mood on purpose or he plainly was oblivious of such things. Maybe both… Ah… Well, where have we been? Ah, right. Midori was supposed to hide, nothing she was very fond of doing, but unfortunately she sucked at handling every kind of weapon and she could be as good as she wanted in material arts. She had no good chances against a group of experienced pirates and she was admittedly not that _bad_ or weak. One the other hand she couldn't even measure them up and she was not suicidal enough to try on a wing and a prayer.

So hiding it was…

She barely found shelter behind a group of barrels, before a jolt went through the ship carrying several marines off their feet. Midori instantly grabbed one of the barrels hardly staying on her feet.

Two boarding hooks had buried themselves in the deck and were pulling the ship towards the Moby Dick. This, though, was slightly problematic.

On the one hand the girl wanted to watch the fight out of interest and worry- those marines were only humans after all- and on the other hand it would be wisely not to get killed. She was stuck in a marine outfit after all.

The inner discussion of 'Shall I watch or not?' was cut short, though, as the first of Whitebeard's 'sons' entered the ship. A split second later she vanished behind the barrels. She wasn't going to strain the luck that had prevented the pirates from spotting her.

Seemed like the marines weren't that lucky, they were outnumbered and it looked more than bad for them…

Nevertheless, Midori couldn't help but feel respect for the Marines, when they fought with so much determination not willing to give up. She had to confess that she was amazed by their iron will. Why couldn't the people in her world be like that, huh?  
Everything would be much better, if they were.

She was so engrossed in watching the fight that she didn't recognize the man behind me.

"How cowardly, to hide while your comrades are fighting."

Dark eyes widened in horror and the girl swung around. The pirate watches her with disgust and she couldn't help, but feel guilty. She really has been acting like a coward.

In a flash he lunged at her with his sword. The blade cut through the barrel like butter. Midori watched with a mix of aw and shock, as the barrel crumbled to the floor.

The blonde had never in her life jumped to her feet that fast.

Lucky her, because the second attack wasn't long in coming and so she did the only thing, she could do; she blocked the sword with kick. Before her opponent was able to recover from his surprised state, another kick in the face pushed him away and made him see stars.

However, she didn't have time to relax, since the hair on her neck already rose in bad premonition.  
She was proved right, as a dark shadow fell over her.

With an impressive speed Midori did handstand spinning her body so that her feet barrels were able to block the pirate's two Katanas. He stared at her disbelievingly. Ignoring her own astonishment she used another spinning kick to hit him in the stomach. The man felt to the floor knocked out for the moment.

Midori's heart raced and her vision spun.

'What did just do?.. I-I knocked some pirates out…What the hell?...'

She had never fought against such strong opponents and she just won?  
This couldn't be real! It was far too easy!

The girl turned helplessly and instantly froze.

Many marines were spread over the floor unconscious and, unfortunately, laid the attention of all idle pirates on her. Oh damn…

Swallowing the lump in her throat and desperately trying to suppress the heat on her cheeks. A blush was the **last** thing she needed right now!

Slowly she looked around, hasty movements would only set them on alert and there was slight difference between two man attacking you and whole bunch of them doing it….

A moment later her eyes widened, when blue orbs locked with black ones. For a second she stopped breathing. She knew this man, no doubt about that, but… he was… younger.

Marco, the phoenix.

He was starring at her with his usual bored gaze or so it seemed, but there was something in his eyes she couldn't identify. Whatever it was it made her back away from him. She shivered. His gaze was just… unnerving.

A blink later it happened, her heart sat out.

Marco must have been just as transfixed with her like she was with him, since he hadn't seen the attack coming either. A marine had charged at him from behind and Marco hadn't recognized it.

To her astonishment he made no sound, as he fell over the rail hitting the see shortly after.

'No…. NO!'

Her body reacted faster than her mind and she was already falling before she realized her actions. More or less gracefully she divided into the sea, just in time it seemed.

She didn't dwell on thought long, though.

His body sunk fast. Too fast.

'Don't you dare, man!'

Midori used all her power to speed forward and, indeed, she was capable of grabbing him. Under great effort both of them surfaced. Marco coughed.  
Midori breathed in relieve, and then Marco's weight pushed her back down. Did she ever mention that she **hated** to swallow up seawater?

"She rescued him!"

This functioned like a wake-up call for Midori and she would have groaned in frustration over her rash actions, if she would not have had to choke, then. This still didn't erase the fact that Midori, a temporary marine, had just rescued the first division commandant of Whitebeard.

Oh…. Damn it….

What the heck had gotten into her?

Okay… She had always liked Marco, he even was one of her favored characters in One Piece, but this… this was just a very, **very **stupid action. She couldn't help it. Now his life was in her hands and that meant swimming faster towards the Moby Dick, before her strength would leave her once for all.

Like she had had a choice in the first place, to rescue a pirate! There was no way back; only the way forward was left.

She couldn't do more than hope that they would rescue her along with Marco. With steady strokes Midori brought Marco and herself closer to big whale-like ship blocking the noises of the retrieving marine ship out. All the commands that were screamed- by Garp probably- and the drumming of boots on a wooden floor, all this didn't count to her right now. She had to stay alive.

Finally she reached Moby Dick and immediately a lifebelt crashed into water right next to them, yet she didn't look upwards. She rather busied herself with getting Marco into the lifebelt. It really wasn't as easy as it sounded.

A minute later it was done, Marco was safely hanging in the lifebelt. Uncertainly the blonde's hand rested on the rope connected with the lifebelt. She couldn't help herself, she was simply far too nervous. Midori's heartbeat sounded incredible loud in her ears.

Slowly the rope became taut.

Then it happened. Midori's body gave in after it had already achieved more than ever before. Her hand slipped down until she was barely gripping at the lifebelt. Her forehead sunk tiredly against the lifebelt and she breathed in deep.

The last thing she saw and felt before everything went black, was a pair of blue eyes and a soft hand gripping hers.


	3. Chapter 2: Meeting Whitebeard

‚**Thoughts'**

„**talking"**

* * *

Slowly the dark fog over her mind lifted and she regained her conscious back.  
Midori wished it hadn't.  
Pain was pulsing through her head and so she was simply thankful for the dim light in the room she was lying in. The blonde girl really didn't want her headache to grow, not really.

Wait.

Hadn't the last thing she remembered been…?

Instantly her eyes shot open widening pure horror.

OH NO!  
The last thing happening had been herself drowning in the ocean and then somebody had grabbed her hand, wasn't she right?  
Although that meant that…Oh god, she had to be on the Moby Dick! **The** Moby Dick!

Her body jerked up from the bed she had been laying on.

'Bad idea, Midori. Bad idea…' Midori groaned in pain holding her head in pain.

"You're awake. That's good." stated the person calmly.

The girl vaguely registered that the voice sounded familiar. Yet she wasn't even able to open her eyes, before a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist pulling the blonde girl to her feet. A big mistake, as Midori realized, when her vision started spinning unpleasantly and her head pulsed painfully.

"Just great!" She hissed weakly.

One shaky hand moved up massaging her temple, the other steadying the blonde. She was glad that this helped at least a bit, though the calm heartbeat beneath her fingers also helped to soothe the headache.  
Midori twitched.

'Please god, don't let me cling to a pirate…PLEASE!'

Slowly-she didn't want to make the headache worse- she looked up.  
To her misfortune, she had assumed right. She was indeed clinging to a pirate and said pirate was obviously amused at her wide-eyed starring. Or so his look told her. On the other hand it could also be the raised eyebrow and the smirk tugging at his lips that conveys that impression. The strong arms around her waist and her hands on his chest were just an adding to the whole impression, they gave.

Oh crap…

At first she was rescued by a bunch marines being forced to be one of them herself and now **she** rescued a **pirate** only to find herself in an even worse situation. What in god's name had made her rescue him in the first place? Had this trip to another world fried her brain cells?  
Probably…

That she was lying in his arms wasn't improving the situation at all.

'What a great first impression…' Midori thought sarcastically.

The blonde finally tried to step back failing, as expected. The grip on her waist even tightened in return making it impossible to walk away. With a light pink blush her glare was still fierce and demanding.

"Is something wrong?" His smirk betrayed the innocent sounding words.

"Would you, **please** let me go?" The smile she gave him in return was forced and the corners of her lips twitched dangerously.

The way he looked at her now was unnerving- She could have sworn that it was the same look, he'd given her on the marine ship-, but Midori made no move or sound to break the awkward silence. A sudden knock interrupted their starring contest.

'Yes! God shows mercy with me!' She couldn't help, but beam inwardly.

"Marco?" A voice asked.

Eventually Marco let her go and walked over to the door opening it.

"What?" Was that annoyance in his voice?

"Pops wonders what takes you so long?..."

_Drop._

_**Drop.**_

Blinking the blonde looked down her body and realized that she'd been wearing her marine uniform since now. Obviously, she hadn't been unconscious for a longer time, because her clothes were still dripping wet. She shuddered lightly, yet she couldn't help but be relieved that somebody hadn't undressed her to get her out of her wet clothes. She rather wore this much too big uniform than anything what they would have given her- probably something rivaling and sexy-, though her current clothes were uncomfortably wet. Well, if she walked around a little, they would hopefully dry.

_Drop._

A new drop of water fell to the floor, but not without making a detour over the left side of her face. The blonde girl hadn't recognized the marine cap which was still seated firmly on her head. It was really surprising that it hadn't fallen down yet. Normally people lost their caps, when they jumped from a **ship** into the ocean underneath.

'Great, now this strange world also works illogically! Damn you…arg….whatever. There are more important matters at hand.'

Midori took the cap off just in time to prevent another drop of water falling down. Sighing she let her fingers slide through her wet hair. She blissfully ignored the other occupants of the room for a moment of peace.

However, the blonde turned around, when she heard a loud gasp. The man who had come to look for Marco was starring at her with his jaw (practically) one the floor. Even Marco stared.  
Had these guys never seen a normal girl before?  
Wait.  
Where they checking her out?  
Wow… They were truly fast in recognizing that she was an indeed pretty girl (People were telling her so over and over again). Though she couldn't help, but feel slightly like she was in the wrong film (which she undoubtedly was), so she took action.

"Hello~~! Somebody home?" the girl waved her in front of their faces. It let the look like idiots, but, hey, it worked!

Marco caught himself first.

"Come." He said grabbing her wrist. With a last look back Midori realized that the other man still starring at her…  
Idiot…

The blonde haired male literally dragged her through several corridors and some stairs up. Hell, she had no idea how he could find his way!  
Although there was something she noticed: They were going upstairs, probably to the main deck. Again she became nervous. There was absolutely nothing in the world that could prepare her to face at least a hundred people and the strongest man of (this) world at once. Just wonderful…

Then Marco opened the door to her doom.

All over the deck pirates were celebrating their victory over the marines. Midori released a shaky breath, as she happily observed that nobody was paying the two of them any attention. This was a better start, than she had expected, still there was one thing left…

The two made their way through the crowd approaching the biggest thrown the girl had ever seen. Still the thrown was nothing against the man sitting on it. His massive frame towering above everything else, his aura overwhelming. So powerful and wise. The girl could tell from the moment she first laid eyes on the man that he lived up to his title.

Midori swallowed hard hoping that her legs would carry her all the way. To put it nice, her legs felt like jelly and she was everything but keen in breaking down again. The moment of weakness, when Marco was there, had been enough.  
Said blonde came to an abrupt halt and the girl behind him crashed into his back. The first impressions she was giving people nowadays were just perfect…

"Sit down."

Whitebeard's voice held no threat at all, but Midori still couldn't ease her fear. Luckily Marco sat down first, so she easily could follow his example. Jozu and Vista sat next to us.  
She was truly thankfully for the privacy this talk had. To speak to hundreds of men and explain her would have been a nightmare. He blonde directed her gaze back at the giant man. He was studying Midori intensely like searched for any malicious intent. She was really curious about what Whitebeard would do or say next.

"Why did you rescue my son, an enemy even?"

Okay, the girl hadn't expected **that** question. She gaped at him, because, honestly, what was she supposed to say, when the correct answer would be 'The hell do I know!'.  
All of them stared expectantly at her, even the crowd seemed to become more silent. Midori continued holding his gaze, but said nothing. Then…

"I don't know." The plain truth. She hadn't dared to lie to this man. He would have seen through her lies anyway.

Whitebeard's eyebrows furrowed dangerously.

"Don't lie to me kid, it's useless." He took a sip from his sake barrel.

The blonde pressed her lips into a thin line. Her sanity screamed at her to fucking remain silent and not aggravate the man any more. Like usual she didn't listen. Her friends were right, one day she'd kill herself that way.

"Do you believe I am dumb enough to even try?"

Her sanity sighed with relief; she hadn't said something that would get them killed on the instant.

"You're girl." Noooo really? Midori stared a Marco with the typical 'What-the-fuck-do-you-want-from-me-?-look'. This man was aggravating **her**, not the other way round!

"Since birth, I guess."

"Then you probably jumped after me, because you fell for me at first sight."

Was this **idiot** for real?  
Apparently he was or he simply wanted to get the truth out of her by irritating her. That's why the blonde teenager did the evilest thing a woman can do to an overly arrogant man.  
She started laughing. Hard.  
Marco's expression went from self-confident to downright pissed, as he watched the girl next to him lying at her back practically breathless from laughing at him.

"S-sorry…haha…t-his i-is just sooo funny..haha…."

He growled at her.  
Midori stopped laughing, a wolfishly smirk lit up her face.

"You know… this game can always play two." Oh yeah, that just eased her fear and bad mood!

"Gurara… What's your name girl?" The old man asked still laughing at his son who was currently getting mocked by his rescuer.

"Midori."

"Midori, you've got a sharp tongue there." The amusement vanished from his voice. "But now say the truth. I can't believe that you had no reason at all."

So he wasn't going to let the matter drop? Obviously not.  
The blonde girl sighed. There had been no real reason for her action; she had acted on instinct for heaven's sake!

"I acted on instinct…"

"My instinct never ever told me to rescue an enemy." Midori really wished that Marco would just shut up. The she was already tense and the conversation wasn't leading into a good direction. She needed anything but his smartass comments right now!

Her voice become freezing and yet it sounded awfully calm.

"Look…First I am no marine; they simply fished me out of the ocean, when I nearly **drowned**! Second, yeah, my instinct told me to help you and I did, because I acted on '**You don't a reason to rescue somebody, just to kill him**'. And yes that counts to instinct for me since I always act on that rule, intentionally or unintentionally. Oh and third, .Hell!"

The ship had fallen utterly silent somewhere in my rant. Marco, Vista, Jozu and all the others were downright old man was the first one to break the silence.

"Gurara… I never thought I would hear something like this from a marine."

Midori made an unhappy face at the last word. Hadn't she told him just now that she was **no** marine? But, hey, who was she to complain? They apparently weren't going to kill her anytime soon and nobody knew that she came from another world (If they ever found out, she was dead meat…).  
For the first time that evening she was genuinely relieved.

"We'll reach our destination soon, then we will finally decide what we do to you."

This on the other hand didn't sound relieving at all…

"Until then Marco will take care of you."

He had to be kidding!  
This was more than just a bad idea! If he thought Marco could repay the favor of rescuing him this way, then he was dead wrong. Midori would be the happiest, if people just left her alone!  
She really hadn't thought about this part of her future. The blonde sighed. It looked like every time she told somebody her name, she wound up in unwanted predicaments. Just her luck…

"Ehm…" Midori cleared her throat. "I don' want to be rude, but where am I supposed to sleep?"

"It's best, when you share a room with Marco."

What had she just thought about her luck? Oh yeah, just her _luck_…

"You also have no clothes to change in… Hmm, what could we give you?"

"She could wear a nurse uniform." Marco suggested.

"Like hell I will! There's no way in hell to get me into this!"

Marco's jaw dropped at the loud and very angry outburst. Vista and Jozu looked visibly surprised and the rest of the crew didn't do better. Only Whitebeard laughed as usual.  
To avoid a further discussion over this matter, she turned to Marco.

"Could I please go to bed?"

Now that she concentrated back on her body, she had to admit that she **was** tired and her headache had come back. The throbbing in her temples grew, for her taste, much to fast.  
With a hand sign Marco, who had caught himself, dismissed both of them from the group. Midori followed him back to the quarters, a unfamiliar exhaustion taking over her body and worsening her headache. What was suddenly happening to her?

'Something is not right here…' She thought tiredly.  
Breathing in slowly her back hit the wall. Her breathing grew more and more irregular.  
'My body feels like it's on fire…'  
She coughed in pain, her body throbbing painfully in sync with her headache.

"Midori!"Marco's face came into view.

"Hey!" He shook her. In return the girl just fell forward collapsing in his arms.

What the hell was happing?  
At one moment she was perfectly fine and in the next she was barely conscious because of _nothing_!

Black spots started appearing in Midori's vision. She was going to black out again. In her opinion that happened to recently…

Slowly Marco's voice faded away, growing more and more distant. When it completely vanished the blonde girl lost conscious again.

* * *

_Yeah! I finally made it! The next chapter is edited and it is 26 minutes past midnight…. Oh damn…  
I am really tired, but I just had to finish the chapter (took me long enough anyway *cough*)_

_Oh well… thanks for all the reviews!_

_Hope you'll continue reading ;D_

_See ya Yumiko Kazumi _


	4. Chapter 3: Phoenixes and other problems

She had been awake for quite some time now, still she feigned to be asleep. Why you ask?  
Well, she _really_ wanted to know what they were talking about. The doctor and… some other guy with a familiar voice. Midori truly tried her best not to make a face while listening to them, even when her nose was itching _like that_!

"I haven't found any severe injuries that could have explained her breakdown, no infections, not even _flu_! Although there have been some old bruises, but they're barely visible anymore and seem to be at least a month old. "

"In other words you have no explanation for why she hadn't woken up in over two days?"

"I fear so, there has to be something more to this or I would have found a reason! Look at this."

She heard some shuffling. From a clipboard maybe?

"Her temperature rose about the average body-heat a normal human is **able** to reach without dying."

Silence crept over the room.  
Yumiko's hands were fisted into the bed sheets. It was the **only** thing that restrained her from jumping up –which would be idiotic anyway- and screaming a very loud '_WHAT THE FUCK?_' at the two men.

She listened to the retreating footsteps clenching her jaw. She was alone. The girl let out a shaky breath and opened her eyes.

'So I slept for two whole days?... and I apparently had a bad fever. Well, I feel not that bad for something like that...No, I feel fine even. The headache is gone and I am only a little sore, so.. I am in fact fine, I guess. So far, so good.'

Slowly Midori sat up and carefully stretched her sore muscles. Nothing happened. So she was indeed fine, well, as fine as you could be, when you had been sleeping for two days with a high fever. She could at least stand up again. She did so, sliding the covers from her body in the process and smiled, when her legs didn't give in under her own weight.  
A shiver ran through her body and practically _froze_ on the spot, as she looked down.

"HOLY CRAP!" The blonde girl had been stripped down to her underwear. _To her underwear!_ How was she supposed to follow the two men to find out more about her situation, when her appearance **screamed** at every single man on this ship '_JUMP ME!_' ?

Oh god, if somebody would come in right now…  
she didn't want to think about it. Frantically she turned around to find something, a_nything_ decent she could use to cover herself. I'd be far too embarrassing for her to be seen only in a pair of frilly panties, though that still didn't mean that she'd wear a nurse uniform. No. Way. In. Hell.  
Then she spotted some neaty folded clothes on a chair next to the bed. The girl actually threw herself at the clothes hugging them almost lovingly. She was saved!

The blonde rubbed her face against the fabric and sniffed. It smelled strange… but it intrigued her. The smell was salty and wild, like the sea, and… wait. _It smelled like fire?_ Could something even smell like fire? It was strange and there also was a hint of… vanilla?  
Yes, yes it definitely was vanilla.

'Whoever this belongs to, I have to thank him for saving me from those obnoxious uniforms.'

She smiled lightly at the thought, while getting dressed.  
She now wore a white shirt with a green and blue checked patterns. She also wore a pair of dark brown trousers and the boots from her marine uniform, which somebody had wisely put next to her bed. Midori was absolutely content.  
The clothes weren't showing off her curves, but fell loosely around her form making her look rather _manly_. Well, at least nobody would stare at her, the perfect condition to sneak around.

With still a small smile in place she slipped silently out the door. She turned from left to right making sure she was alone. Luck seemed to be on her side when she saw nobody.  
Cautiously the girl made her way through the corridors trying to avoid the other inhabitants of the ship, while she searched for a way 'up'. You see, 'up' meant she was going to the main deck and where was Whitebeard most of the time? Right, on the main deck and if she was lucky then he and whoever else would be talking about her in some way. After all, the blonde _needed_ the information to survive in this world and in this ruff times. Knowing about the manga and its storyline didn't really help at the time. So let's go spying~

Reaching a wooden door, she felt a salty breeze sweep over her forearms. So this was the last door separating her from the main deck. The she heard the voices.

"So you only found those symptoms, but nothing else?" Definitely Whitebeard's voice.

"Exactly! I have never seen something like this before, not in the whole time since I started my medical education!"

Silence. Obviously everybody was stunned speechless. Midori understood them, she really did. It didn't happen every day that a doctor who has served under the same **pirate **captain for (probably) two decades and that on the **Grand line** didn't know an illness. It almost was scary.

"Well…" Whitebeard's words cut through the heavy silence like butter and she could tell by the sound of it that _he knew_. Whatever it was, this man knew it. "…I've heard about these symptoms before. _Somebody_ told me about an old story including those 'symptoms'."

Somehow the girl –and everybody else for that matter- **knew** that this was the only thing he'd be saying for now and probably was she, at most one of the commandants, the only one who registered **what **he was implying at. He meant Roger and _that_ now really confused her. Wait. No, it unsettled her.

"It's a very rare ability."

"ABILITY?"

"Gurarara." The old man laughed at the shocked faces of his son. "Only one under a million is born with it."

"WHAT?"

He chuckled again.

"It's a special bond that is developed, when said person is born. The person normally gets something like an inner compass that leads him or her to the destined devil fruit and a little bit from its power, though that also means the person can't tolerance sea water anymore."

And again only silence remained. But who would judge them? The shock sat deep and Midori didn't doubt that she wasn't the only one who was completely thrown off by his words.  
Although her reaction was far worse, like her blank face showed. It was more like this. Holy. Friggin'. Shit.  
Her mind was empty, void of a_nything_, well, almost anything.  
Where the hell did this power come from? She wasn't born 'here'. She was in fact only here since… a month? She knew this world from _mangas_- damn it- and there wasn't more to it!

Still totally spaced out she nearly didn't hear the steps approaching the door. Just before it was opened the girl jumped to her feet and dashed all the way back to the cabin like a madman, pardon, mad_wo_man.  
She threw the door shut and fell coughing horribly on her bed.

'I can't be that special!... No, I..I just can't…' Sighing she closed her eyes and rolled on her back. 'Damn… when they think, I am special they will not let me go any time soon. I wish they would just leave me alone. I **have** to go. I **have** to find out what happened with the others…'

Silently the blonde wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She didn't want to be weak, not right now. It would be stupid and awkward to be found now, sobbing like a little girl. No, she didn't need it at all…  
That realization though didn't change the fact that she was stuck on this ship for an unknown amount of time which meant that she could not search for her friends or the reason why she was here in the first place. Oh, and if you were wondering why she was so worried about her friends, although Garp had told her that there had been no one else. He just had to be wrong… He had to…

"They can't be dead!"

'_Are you sure?'_

Midori ignored the strange voice in the back of her mind. She was not going to stop believing that now. It would only make everything worse.

However, she doubted it would change anything. Marco would supposedly stick to her like **glue** for the next days, weeks, _months_? She was forced to put her plans on ice. For the moment at least. Yeah, for the moment sounded good, but if she wanted this 'for the moment' to be as short as possible then she had to find a way out. Lying in this bed trying to not cry, on the other hand, wouldn't help to make any progress.  
Drying the last stubborn tears she sat back up again. Good, now she needed a plan. Maybe she should start with collecting information to build the plan up from…  
That really looked like a good idea!

A word and a blow.

Grinning slightly she got to her feet and searched for something to cover her hair, the greatest giveaway that she was indeed female. For sneaking around and spying at the crew it would be disadvantage to walk around showing off whom she was, but what could she use to change that?

Looking around she finally spotted a blue headscarf. The perfect solution.  
Happily she covered her hair with it letting only her fringe fall into her faces. She still looked feminine- you can't change the form of your face that easily-, but probably no one would take a closer look anyway. Not when the person in front of them looked like a teenage boy.

Being content with her disguise she slipped out of the room again. Since she already knew the way to the main deck, she chose said way- to get lost now wouldn't be the best idea- and felt herself getting more careless, when she was simply ignored by the pirates crossing her way. The first part of her 'plan' was successful. Good….

Now the only thing to do was to blend in with the crew and get some information out of them. Hopefully that wouldn't go wrong, which was d**efinitely** going to happen, if she walked into one of the commandants…  
Better not think about the worst case scenarios…

Shaking the unwanted thoughts out of her head the blonde looked around and spotted a perfect target.  
A group of men was sitting in a more secluded away from the crowd playing poker. If that wasn't the gold mine of information, then she didn't know. Perhaps, Midori was a little more enthusiastic than she should have been, but… hey, she liked playing poker!

Fortunately- she was unbelievable lucky today- they were just starting a new round.

"Can I join?" She even managed to deepen her voice.

"Yes…" The guys gave her a curious look. "Are ya new?"

"Yes." It was actually the truth. They rewarded her with a nod and the girl sat down. "Oh by the way could you answer me some questions? I haven't had the time yet to get accustomed to everyone."

"Hmm…okay, but only under one condition…"

"And that would be?"

"You have to win the game."

A wolfish smirk lit up her face. "That's all?"

The narrowed their eyes at the blonde. "Don't be so full of yourself, brat."

"I'll try ma best, but let's start."

XxXx

Thirty minutes and two games later the blonde haired girl was sitting between a bunch of frustrated and cash-strapped men. She had won _every single_ game. Oh, how she _**loved**_ playing cards!

"How's that possible?"

"It isn't fair! It's simply not fair!"

"Come on guys! I was only lucky!" She said encouragingly. "Would you answer my questions now?"  
Nodding in defeat they listened up.

"Hmm…" Where should she start best? "…can you tell me something about the commandants… Marco for example?"

"Commandant Marco… Oh well, he's very reliable and cares for everybody here, but he's also the biggest philanderer, you can find…" The blonde raised an eyebrow at this. The man speaking saw her reaction. "Don't get me wrong! He still is a great fighter and good friend, but when he wants a girl, he gets her. That's an unwritten rule."

"As much as they fight him, in the end they all fall for him anyway and he just dumps them, when he had enough. With the new chick it'll be just the same." Another man said.

Okay, that's new and…Wait. WHAT? Marco…wanted to screw her…?  
Oh. Fuck.  
Midori couldn't help, but stare at them in utter horror. That hadn't been part of the plan. She hadn't even considered it to be part of the plan! This was **not** the way she had expected her life to be in the One Piece world.

Absorbed in her thoughts- they were going haywire right now- she didn't notice the person walking up behind her until it was too late. Someone blew against the shell of her ear making her shriek. **Loud**.  
Her shock was mirrored on the faces of the men around her.

"It's not nice to runaway." A voice softly whispered in her ear. She didn't need to turn around to find out whom this voice belonged to. Oh no, she already knew.  
Without hesitation Marco pushed the headscarf off Midori's head. Blonde curls danced in the wind, as they were freed from the headscarf. The men, she had been playing with before, gaped at her a slight pink hue staining their cheeks. Understandable, since they didn't recognize that the person in front of them was a girl…

Marco on the other side blatantly ignored them. He rather busied himself by throwing the girl over his shoulder. Midori didn't even try to fight back. First, she was weaker than him and second she was to caught up in her own thoughts to care.

'I may be doomed, but I am **not** going down with a fight!'

Oh yeah and that's the story how Marco, the phoenix, and Midori started a challenge of resisting and giving of which the Whitebeard pirates had never seen like this before.

* * *

_Here is the new chapter and I hope you liked it and will review!_

_And thanks in advance for my betareader Shiary :D  
(I hope you don't mind that I uploaded the chapter before you could edit it __**again**__… Sorry…)_

_Ps.: the 100th reviewer gets a OS of his choice (hopefully about a manga I know xD) written by me 3_


	5. Chapter 4: Let's gamble!

By now it had already been a week since the incident on the deck and everything went smoothly so far. Sure, it didn't quite turn out the way she had wanted it to, but it still had its pros.

Marco sticking to Midori on the other hand was certainly **not** one of them.

However, the worst part of the situation was that those men she had played cards with were right. Damn right.

He was hitting on the blonde. **Constantly**. It's not like she played along (though, he _was_ attractive), moreover she had come to the unavoidable conclusion that the Marco from the Mangas was a **whole lot** more mature than this younger version of him. Oh, how she yearned for his mature version right now!

You want to know why?

Well, when men were drunk, they started to gossip and if you believed them (like Midori), Marco slept with all of the nurses at least once and on everything new island they stopped at he found a new toy. The only positive point was that none of the women had expected more than a one-night-stand, so he broke no hearts at least.  
She hoped they were right…

A good thing you see… but why, for heaven's sake, was he after **her**?

As far as you could trust a drunken man's opinion, the blonde was a pretty chick with a _nice_ body. Good to hear, right?

For her it wasn't. How was she supposed to sneak away from that _bastard_, when he was starring at her ass all the time?

Well…Maybe it had its good perks.

First one was definitely the fact that the pirates treated her thoroughly well and she got nearly everything she wanted. As far as she got to know them, they would have been nice to her anyway.

Secondly she befriended Vista and Jozu. Latter was friendly and even a little shy towards women, which amused Midori greatly, and Vista was a real Gentleman. Finally two men she perfectly got along with!

Third and definitely best thing though was that the Whitebeard pirates had (as unbelievable as it sounds) a library. An awesome one at that. Every bookworm would love this library at first glance. It was an old-fashioned one with shelves that nearly reached the ceiling, these ones you needed a ladder to get a book from the highest shelf. It was really an amazing place, but the best thing about it was space between the shelves and the ceiling which was just big enough for her to hide in. Nobody would find the blonde here, especially not Marco from whom she hid away more and more often. Like now.

Midori smiled contently to herself and shifted so that she was lying flat on her belly. Reading books and sometimes listening to a cursing Marco (she could hear him from time to time bitching about not being able to find her, when he walked by) had become her favorite pastime.

The only problem was that she lost track of time, because the clock in her iPod was frozen along with its battery (this however was all in all not _that_ bad). Unfortunately Midori had been sitting here for hours (?) without anything to eat at all and she was slowly getting annoyed by the hunger.  
Oh, had she mentioned?

She hadn't even had breakfast, because a certain blonde haired man had nearly pounced on her…

This whole running-away-thing was slowly but surely driving her over the edge. The blonde hadn't expected that staying out of Marco's way would be that power straining.  
Inwardly she cursed at herself for having never listened to Suzu, Mio, Keiko and Ryu, when the scolded her for being too careless and not worrying about consequences.

`I _**am **_an idiot…´ Midori thought bitterly.

The smile now gone she stood up and jumped down. Sneaking out of the library wasn't hard (_nobody_ ever came here) reaching the kitchen without being seen though was. The way there was long and Marco seemed to have developed a six sense when it came to finding the blonde.  
_**This**_ was definitely not funny, especially when Marco started hitting on her then and that really grating on her nerves.

To Midori's amazement she met no one on her way to the kitchen.  
Either luck was on her side or something bad was going to happen…

"Midori-san?"

The girl was startled by a voice. 'Damn it!' She thought slowly turning around.

"Hello Vista…" She said weakly.

If Vista and Jozu were around Marco was **never **far behind. Midori and her luck…

The tall man chuckled.  
"Don't worry Marco is busy. He has more important things to do."

The blonde nodded not sure if she should be happy that Marco was occupied or feel insulted that chasing her was unimportant- what somehow was, still there was no need to rub it in her face.

"Err…Vista, what time is it?"

"I think it's around three o'clock."

"Thank you." She beamed at him, but was instantly interrupted by an unmistakable growl. Both pirates started at Midori's stomach, while said girl blushed in embarrassment. Vista only laughed.

"I believe there's something left from lunch." He told her with an amused grin.

She smiled shyly at him. He laughed again while turning to walk away. However he stopped, when the blonde called after him.

"Thank you _again_… and please… don't tell Marco."

He looked back at her answering with a nod and a kind smile. Returning the smile with one of her own she snuck into the kitchen.

It was _feeding time_.

* * *

Midori stared with satisfaction at the ingredients for her meal. (There hadn't been any leftovers in the fridge.)

It had taken her half an hour to even find _something _she could use for cooking- without burning the ship down, that is- in this huge kitchen! At least she should be able to cook something edible now. Hopefully…

For better understanding there should probably be some explaining done. Oh well…  
You see, our dear Midori was not the best cook… jokes aside… She was **more** than just untalented which would be easily proofed. She could after all only cook _one __**edible**_ meal without burning something down. Luckily this one though she could do perfectly, nevertheless she needed all her concentration to prepare it.

God may help the person that would dare to disturb her now.

To say that doing so was stupid was an underestimation. The blonde was starving by now and making her ruin the meal would be the **last** thing that person would do in their life…

'I need my iPod. NOW!'  
She thought rummaging around in her pockets. Triumphantly the girl drew it out of her pocket and started searching through her songs. Listening to music would definitely help her concentrate, exactly what she needed right now. Best option would be something with a good beat and with lyrics she could sing along.  
'Found it!'

She pushed the play button and began to sing while slicing the vegetables into little pieces.

"_I want to go insane,  
just when I hear your name.  
Even the thought of you  
should get me in a crazy mood._

_The thought of you and me  
doesn't leave my memory.  
I think that you should know  
how to get me in your flow."_

She took the vegetables and put them in the prepared pan so that she would fry them. Next she directed her attention back at the rice boiling in a pot next to the pan all the while never stopping the song.

"_Make it real love,  
start it up and show that you could.  
And if you go and take it to the limit now  
you should know that you're doing good._

_Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if I fall save me  
like a boy should.  
Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if you amaze me  
I know that I could  
love you like a girl should."_

Midori never noticed the person slipping silently in the room.

"_Don't wanna mess around,  
waiting till you find out  
that I am the one for you  
fitting in your dancing shoes._

_I need your feedback now  
just we are meant somehow  
don't wait for centuries  
show her you've got up this lead._

_Making a showstopper, high clocker  
show that you could  
and if you gonna take it to the limit now  
be sure that you're doing good, so good, so good…_

_Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if I fall save me  
like a boy should.  
Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if you amaze me  
I know that I could  
love you like a girl should._

_Treat me like a, ah, ah, a lady  
and I love you like a girl should.  
Treat me like a, ah, ah, a lady  
and I love you like a girl should!_

_And if you finally make it  
I know we both  
could feel like first-in-lovers  
like boy and girl should.  
I just can't wait for treating you good  
and giving you the right love  
just like a girl should._

_Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if I fall save me  
like a boy should.  
Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if you amaze me  
I know that I could  
love you like a girl should._

_Treat me like a, ah, ah, a lady  
and I love you like a girl should.  
Treat me like a, ah, ah, a lady  
and I love you like a girl should!_

_Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if I fall save me  
like a boy should.  
Treat me like a lady,  
like a boy should.  
And if you amaze me  
I know that I could  
love you like a girl should."_

The blonde looked proudly at her self-made meal: fried rice and vegetables with chicken.  
God, she just wanted to throw herself at her meal and-…

"What do you say,… the little girl can cook _and_ sing."

Midori would have jumped three feet in the air, if there weren't those arms around her waist holding her in place.

"Marco…" she whispered in shock.

"That's my name, darling."

She clenched her jaw. That bastard sounded amused! DAMN IT!  
And now he just _**chuckled.**_

"How long have you been listening?..."

"Hmm~…?" He just smirked and pressed her body flush against his. "Long enough."

Suddenly it dawned to Midori what the content of the song she finished singing just moments ago was and a bright blush crept over her face.  
_Fucking. Shit._

"Uhmm…Marco?" She cursed her voice for sounding so weak and took a deep breath.

"Yes?"

"Let. Me. Go. NOW!"

The only response she got was another smirk and the pirate tightening his hold on her.

"The song sounded like you wanted something else."

"It was just a **song**!" She protested.

"Sure~"

Taking another deep breath she calmed herself down.  
Old man Whitebeard would be pleased a_t all_, if she killed one of his commandants. No he wouldn't.

'Unfortunately…' Midori thought darkly.

"Look, I am hungry and my patience is running out so if you don't want to _die_, I suggest you let me **go!**" Midori growled at him.

"I let you go…"Marco trailed off smirk widening at Midori's hopeful expression. "…If I am allowed to feed you."

Marco was _**doomed**_…

He couldn't even blink before he found himself on the floor an _extremely_ pissed woman looming over him.

"Listen to me _birdie_, I am only telling you this **once**, so better listen!"  
He stared at her wide-eyed.  
"I am **not** you _toy_ and I have **no** interest in becoming one so don't you _dare_ to try to turn me into one. **Do you get me**?"

It wasn't that she didn't think that Marco was attractive, because- _damn_- he was, but the blonde was not one that fell in love, when she knew she'd be left with a broken heart in the end.  
Neither was the blonde keen on losing the little respect she gained among the crew nor forget about her priorities. She had to find her friends and her brother!

"So? Did you get it?" She asked coldly letting go of hm.

Within seconds his usual smirk (It was at least the expression he wore, when he look at Midori) was back in place and before the girl could react, she was pulled forward meeting his lips.

The kiss was neither gentle nor was it kind and soft, _oh no_, it burned with passion and lust; still it was not less breath taking.  
It took all her willpower not to kiss back, because Marco **was** a good kisser and Midori suddenly understood why so many women had gladly shared his bed.

They only broke apart, when they both needed air.

"No." He replied getting more and more amused at the glare send his way.

Although Midori was angry, she couldn't really blame him. Nobody would take you seriously, if you were flustered and breathing heavily after a heated make out session.

"What do you even want here?" The words came out as a hiss. Sadly she still was not allowed to **murder **him cruelly and painfully. Calming down and starting to plot would most likely be the wisest thing to do then.

"We boarded an hour ago."

Silence filled the room. Midori's anger was replaced by irritation.

"You mean I could have already went out to buy some food instead of searching half an hour to even find the ingredients I needed in this huge kitchen!"

He didn't comment on her words just raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"_Fuck_…" She muttered frustrated.

The blonde shook her head.  
The '_I could have done this_' and _'I could have done that'_ were unimportant right now. Her food was ready to bet eaten. In other words thinking was not of any use right now. She put all the food on one plate and grabbed a spoon. She would deal with Marco later. There was plenty of time after all.  
Her plan, though, was foiled by a hand that took both plate and spoon from her.

"Marco…" The girl said dangerously.

"Hmm… I didn't expect you to be able to cook a_nything_ let alone be it edible and tasty."  
He said indifferently while munching **her** food!

"I am damn hungry and if you don't give me the food **now** I won't hold back." Midori snarled.

"No" was his only answer and to proof his point he held plate out of her reach above his head. Obviously she had to deal with Marco first. The problem: She couldn't attack him without endanger her meal.  
She growled.  
He smirked.  
They both knew she was going to lose this round.

"I give it back to you under two conditions."

Her eyes became slits.

"First I feed you.." Not what she wanted, but she would get the food anyway!  
"…and second we go out on a date."

She stared blankly at him.

'What would I rather do, starving or going on a date knowing that I will get molested?  
Starving, _definitely starving_.'

Promptly she copied his bored gaze and the smirk. She leaned forward their lips nearly brushing.

"I'd rather _**die**_ by starving to death than go out with you, Pineapple head!" With these last words Midori raced out the door leaving the ship as fast as she could.

* * *

Several minutes later she walked aimlessly through the island's busy streets. The blonde was still hungry, but she had gotten away from Marco.

Sighing she turned to the left and walked into the first tavern she saw. A big sign over the bar said 'Full Moon Bar'. As she entered the bar, she froze and s**tared**.

This was definitely _**no**_ _little ordinary _bar. Honestly, really nothing was ordinary or little in here! The room was actually huge and **everywhere** sat pirates: some of them were familiar, since she knew them from the Moby Dick, so she guessed the others where Whitebeard pirates too. (Like any other pirate crew would share a bar with Whitebeard's people.)

Overcoming her shock she moved through the crowded tables sitting down in a corner far away from the entrance next to a bunch of man absorbed in their poker game.

'I should count my money and then buy somet-…WAIT A MOMENT!...Oh shit, I forgot all my money.'  
To make sure she was right Midori checked all her pockets, but there was not a single beli to be found. She had been so busy to get away from Marco that she had forgotten her purse.  
Too put it briefly she was **blank**.

With a groan she banged her head on the table.

"Life's such a _fucking _bitch…"

An indignantly sounding voice from the neighbor table yanked her out of her Marco-and-life-loathing-thoughts.

"Commandant, stop starring at that chick!"

The blonde _slowly_ lifter her head up and glared icily at the man who had dared to interrupt her thoughts of how to kill Marco best. He shuddered and looked away.  
His companion, the man he had called 'Commandant' laughed who apparently hadn't gotten the message of 'leave me the hell alone!', barged in.

"Looks like you angered her."

For the second time this day Midori had to remind herself that Whitebeard would **not** be happy, if she killed one of his commandants. By the way, which commandant was it anyway?  
Taking a look at the man her heart nearly stopped. It was the commandant of the fourth division, **Thatch**.

While the blonde was still trying to comprehend the new information, the men continued their game.

"Ah damn! I fold!" One of them said and threw his cards on the table.

The girl watched in silence as in every following round another man of the group folded leaving a remarkable amount of money behind. In the end all men left the table and vanished somewhere in the crowd. At least she wasn't the only blank person in the room anymore.  
Her head laid unmotivated with her forehead on the cool table surface, whereas the growling of her stomach grew louder. A chair creaked to her right, when somebody pulled it back to sit down. Twisting her head to look at the newcomer she spotted a brightly grinning Thatch.

"You look rather unhappy, young girl." He said his damn smile not faltering in the least.

Before she opened her mouth to answer Midori remarked inwardly that it was kind of _disturbing_ that a man that hit on you called you '_young girl'_…

"Hungry… not unhappy…" She murmured in a bored tone. "Lost my purse…"

He clearly didn't know who she was and she didn't feel like telling him. The less pirates knew she was a –possible- Nakama the easier it would be to get away from them.

"How about I buy you anything you want?" he offered. "No need to be shy. I have enough money!"

She followed his gaze and surveyed his stack of money. Midori had to admit that he was right, he was anything but low on funds at the moment, still she wasn't going to take his offer.  
'Sure! I _always _wanted to be indebted to a pirate with not quite innocent intentions!'

"No thanks."

"Why not? You _really_ look hungry!"

"I might be hungry, but I am not **dumb** enough to be in a pirate's debt. Moreover I prefer working for my money."

The last sentence sounded wrong… even in her own ears…

Thatch simply laughed, but she didn't miss the glint in his eyes that told her that he was up to something and she wouldn't like it. She and her _luck…_

"I see…" A smirk lit up his face. "I think I have a solution to your problem."

'There we go…' Midori thought unhappily and lifted her head to listen to his idea.

"How about a game? If you win you get **all **the money I won today that would solve your problem, but if I win you have to grant me three wishes."  
He grinned at her expectantly synchronously shuffling the cards.

Midori couldn't help but grin herself. Thatch may be good, but he had already made his first mistake: he _**underestimated**_ her.

"Good, I accept. Under one condition! If I win, I'll get the money and I can ask you for any piece of information I want. Deal?"

He didn't even hesitate to shake her outstretched hand.

Somewhere in her mind the blonde mused that either she was going insane, because _three wishes_ could mean a lot, or she was getting reckless. 'Probably both' She concluded watching Thatch deal the cards.

_And so the game began_.

It truly was a hard and nerve straining game. Thatch was good, no, it wasn't that simple. This man was a **pro**. His poker face was almost flawless and seemed exactly to know how to react in every single situation. Unfortunately for him he wasn't the only one that knew how to play.  
Suzu had been a genius at playing poker and she had taught Midori _everything_ she knew. You see, eventually the blonde and her friend had been 'almost-equals'.

Thatch didn't know that. He could tell she was experienced, since she was doing _too _well for an amateur, and still he fell for the sour face Midori made at the right moments. She could tell this act was reassuring him. Naturally he didn't wholly fall for it. He was not a fool after all.

Poor him, for he was still losing.

The four _aces_ in Midori's hand spoke for themselves and yet she continued toying with him. She wanted to see his expression change from triumphantly to utterly shocked.  
Hey! She could allow herself at the very least a little fun. An opinion that crowd which had gathered around them seemingly shared. The game was kept exciting this way, mind you.

Midori snapped out of her thoughts turning her attention back to her counterpart. The man with the funny haircut appeared to be _very_ content with his hand. Like she expected he revealed his cards and the crowd cheered.

"I think I won, my dear." A wide grin accompanying his words.

Wordlessly the blonde followed his example with an unreadable expression and did her best to hide her grin at the stunned silence. Calmly closing her eyes while leaning back in her seat she said:

"And I think you owe me some money."

Smirking she cracked an eye open and gazed expectantly at Thatch.  
To her astonishment he only laughed whole-heartedly and handed the money over. The crowd dispersed shortly after. Some begrudgingly and others triumphantly. They just _had_ to bet on the outcome of our game.

'Men…' Midori thought and rolled her eyes.

"I haven't had such a thrilling game in quite some time! You're really amazing…"

"Midori."

"Ah… I am Thatch, Commandant of-"

"Whitebeard's fourth division." He blinked in surprise.

"I see you heard of us."

"I came here with them." Hadn't she just a while ago decided to **not** tell him? Midori mentally cursed herself for speaking with thinking first.

His eyes widened in recognition and immediately started scrutinizing her.

"So you are this girl we decide on, if she can stay or not and your Marco's-"

"Yes, I am, and **no**, I am not _Marco's new toy_!"

Thrown off the track by her harsh interruption Thatch couldn't help but blink in confusion, then he laughed.

"That's new to me!" He said amusedly. "Young women normally don't fight a good looking man like him."

"Then they are either sluts or too naïve for their own good. I am neither, thus not his type."

"Now I understand why the others said the respected the new girl."  
Midori looked at him in surprise. Thatch smiled.  
"They told me that she was nice, pretty and totally out of Marco's reach."

A soft smile lit up her face.  
"It's nice to hear that they don't think of me as a little helpless girl."

He returned it with one of his own.

"Ah! There's something I want to ask!" Now that she thought about it…It was strange…  
"Tell me, why hasn't Marco come yet?"

Thatch stayed silent for a moment, before he had a laughing fit. Midori waited patiently unril he calmed down.

"You could say he is hiding."

The only reaction he received was an are-you-kidding-me-!-stare.

"I think you know by now how Marco normally handles his relationships, don't you?"

She nodded.

"The girl on this island is an exception. They have a more or less solid relationship.  
I think you already guessed that he isn't happy about this, but he doesn't dare to dump her and on top she is everything else than _unimposing_ so…"

"So in other words he hides from a woman he has a long-term affair with. No wait, an **openly** long-term affaire." She said interrupting him again. The man just nodded.

Without warning Midori started laughing so hard that tears ran down her cheeks.

This was so priceless!  
She had found a friend and Marco would not molest here while they stayed on this island for fear of meeting his _girlfriend._

Was it only her or was this island great?

* * *

_I am done! I AM DONE! WHOOHOOOO_

_I am very sorry for updating so late, but school kept me busy and killed any spark of creativity in my mind -_-…  
Anyway, I hope you liked the new chapter and will review!_

_By the way…  
__**I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D**_


	6. Chapter 5: A grilfriend and a wolf?

Midori thoroughly enjoyed the following hours.  
She had not just won a nice amount of money but also gained a new friend. A _very_ talkative friend.

However she didn't really mind that Thatch had been chewing the blonde's ear of with his thoughtless chatter. He had after all blurted out everything about that Marco-got-himself-a-girlfriend-the-world-has-to-end-thing and when she said everything, she meant **everything**.

Marco by the way had still not left the ship which started to really worry her, since we were speaking of _**Marco**_ here; A damn pirate and Philanderer who was _**hiding **_from a woman.  
A very…uhm… _worrisome_ woman- for the lack of better words.

If somebody had told her what Thatch told her just some hours ago, she would have laughed into his face, because something like _that_ couldn't have been true, right?

Wrong.  
She truly believed everything that Thatch told her about this unknown woman and Midori decided then and there that Marco deserved to be pitied.

Oh right! You don't know anything about her. _Yet_.  
So let's sum it up a little.

The woman, the blonde haired man with the weird hairdo had described, was around twenty years old and gifted with outstanding good looks. All young man (Midori doubted that it were only the younger ones listening to Thatch's infatuated praising) had been smitten with her. That was until Marco came around and she fell in love with him. A thing that the 16 year old girl labeled as downright stupid. Honestly, Marco's reputation was anything but unknown.

All which the man told her after this –not without a shudder, you might add- changed her view completely. At first she had thought something of the lines 'That poor girl' and 'That bastard Marc!', now it sounded more like 'Poor Marco' and 'That crazy bitch'.  
Midori had seen a lot of possessive and careful girlfriends, but this woman was already borderline obsessive and her fits of jealousy were unmatched be every single one the young woman herself had ever had the honor of witnessing or have you ever heard of a _girlfriend_ lead the unfortunate chick away who had been hitting on her man and five minutes later she was running out the door crying and sobbing, in other words being a total wreck?

No, you haven't and so had Midori.  
(The thought she could and up in the same position never crossed her mind though.)

Midori shuddered involuntarily.  
She was definitely not keen on meeting that woman any time soon. Nevertheless the blonde felt like Thatch had not told her _everything_, if she interpreted those flashes of sadness in his eyes correctly.

She could have questioned him –he probably would have answered her, it had been is stake after all-, but Midori didn't. She had no right to ask him anything he didn't want to tell her, especially if his pride forced him to answer her –him being a good sport and all.  
It would simply be unfair, so she let it slip.

Moreover she was just so content right no-

"_Die_." The blonde whispered coldly, as she felt a pair of arms sneak around her waist and draw her into a very familiar lap.

Marco only grinned at that.  
He had far too much fun in teasing and getting –in his opinion- amusing reactions from the poor blonde. Particularly that embarrassed blush, he had received for filling her in on whose clothes she had been wearing on her first awake the aboard the Moby Dick , was is favorite so far.  
Luckily Marco still didn't know that Midori had blushed, because she had thought his clothes smelled nice. Another thing that Midori would make sure, he never found out. **Never ever**.

"Missed me darling?"

'I am not allowed to kill him. I am not allowed to kill. I am not allowed…' were the only words repeated over and over again in her brain. Just a few seconds in his presence and her peace was irretrievably destroyed and…  
Did that guy know **anything** about personal space?

Apparently not…

Midori sighed inwardly. Obviously she had to go along with it… well then…

"I sure did…" She smiled sweetly at him. "… but I missed the marine who knocked you over board back then a lot more."

The surrounding pirates gaped at her. Seemingly they had eavesdropped on them, although she didn't really mind, since they started laughing their asses off after the initial shock, so did Thatch. He was hitting his hand on the table not even trying to stifle his laughter.

Smirking triumphantly the blonde slid back into her chair.

A moment later she joined in the laughter herself. Why?  
It wasn't that Marco looked _unattractive_ in his dark blue hoodie –the hood pulled over his head- , it just proofed that he was indeed **hiding** and on top of that from his _**girlfriend**_. So damn ridiculous.

"And what's so funny fro you?" He asked angrily.

Midori stopped laughing and smirked again.

"I never expected **you** to be afraid of a **woman**."

His cheeks darkened a little and he turned to glare at Thatch heatedly (Midori could have sworn she saw a hint of the same sadness under Marco's anger, the same sadness Thatch had shown). He surely wanted to give Thatch a piece if his mind for revealing such an i_mportant_ piece of information, but he never got the chance. At the Moment he had opened his mouth _something_ had shrieked loudly and thrown itself at him.

"MARCOOOO!"

"What the hell…?" Marco and Midori said at the same time.

Really, there was **nothing** that could have described the scene taking place at their table better.

A young woman had literally thrones herself at Marco. Long hazelnut brown hair fell in soft waves around her slender frame reaching her midriff. Grass green eyes radiated happiness.  
Very beautiful indeed- Midori couldn't deny that-, but _damn_… This was the most ridiculous situation she'd ever seen in her whole life.

She was cuddling Marco to death or at least attempting it.

The blonde couldn't help but stare and grin. Strangely she was the only one who found this unbelievable. Looked like she was doing that on a regular basis. It was the first time she felt honestly sorry for Marco who was desperately trying to breath. Yet he didn't once try to push her off.

'So there really is a deeper meaning to this whole relationship-thing, still I should just keep out of it. It's their problem after all.' She thought watching them calmly.

Suddenly she heard an unfamiliar voice begging frantically. A female voice.

'_Stop it! Please! You'll only hurt yourself further!'_

Midori's look flickered briefly over everybody around her. Then she locked eyes with another pair. For a short moment she stared in the turquoise orbs of a wolf. It, no, she – the voice had been female after all, Midori reminded herself- appeared to be so helpless and worried. Somehow those feelings took hold of her own mind…

Only then the wolf turned back to the brown-haired woman and the strange feelings vanished.

'What in God's name was that?'

Before she could think about it more, a voice broke the blonde out of her thoughts.

"Who are you?" The green-eyed woman was watching her.

"I am Midori."  
She said offering her a smile hoping that she wouldn't be caught up in one of those fits of jealousy. Her evening had started out so well after all…

Midori silently endured those green eyes scrutinizing her. There was no need to get worked up over nothing. She was no threat to her and Marco's ehm… relationship (Midori just couldn't adjust to the thought of Marco being in a real relationship. That just didn't do!).  
As soon as her Opposite would realize that she could enjoy the rest of the evening. So she hoped, that is.

After a while of utter silence the blonde was tempted to express her growing annoyance with a sigh. She never got that far though, because the woman spoke up.

"Do you have an affair with Marco?"

'Blunt, aren't we?' The dark-eyed girl mused slightly baffled and though about an adequate answer like…  
…"Let me think… Not in this life?"  
…"Hell. No! Am I stupid of what?"  
…"Not in his wildest fantasies"  
In the end she used none of those sentences. In fact she was not able to utter a single word. Let's be dead honest, who could have said anything coherent, when they were laughing their asses off.  
Right, no one.

Oh and no, Midori did not just loose her mind. She plainly couldn't help her amusement.  
To her a woman so bluntly voicing something like that in front of whole crowd of frown man, of _pirates,_ and her _boyfriend_ was priceless. Especially then when said men were completely caught of guard themselves.

The blonde wiped some tears out of the corner of her eyes and gazed back at brunette.

"Never." She said breathlessly.

In a flash _something_ knocked the last bit of air out of her lungs and hugged her.

"I think I like you~" The 'something' exclaimed now sitting on Midori's lap. "The name's Ai, by the way."

She smiled brightly at the blonde who looked dazed by the lack of oxygen. After that Ai jumped up, said goodbye to Marco and dragged the other female away, the wolf from before following close behind. She didn't stop walking until they reached the bar on the other side of the room and boy was that room **huge**.

She pushed Midori down on a barstool, afterwards she slipped behind the bar.

"Okay… what do ya want? It's on the house." She winked at Midori.

"Rum then, please."

Ai whirled around and went searching for a bottle of rum along with a mug.  
Dark eyes never left her bustling form. Midori found this whole situation very suspicious. Not merely because it was very unlikely for the brunette to suddenly dismiss the thought of Midori being a threat- it didn't fit in Thatch's description- and apart from that they were currently at the furthest corner away from Marco of the whole room. The fact that they were also very secluded only fueled her suspicion.  
Seemed like her 'ordeal' was not over yet.

With a thump a mug was set down in front of her and the blonde smiled politely. Her eyes glanced up from the mug to Ai's smiling face.

"You know that there was no need to drag me away?"

It was an rhetorical question and they both knew it. The brunette's face fell.

"I meant it, when I said I was not after him, and just to get him off of me, this whole act was useless. I know that and so do you. He is and, as far as I am informed, always was a **philanderer**. Either you can accept that and live with it or do the both of you a favor and leave him alone."

Not waiting for Ai's reaction she grabbed her mug, stood up and walked away.  
She hoped that her words would have at least a small impact on the woman. She would only end up heartbroken, if she kept up this relationship with Marco.

'Hopefully she makes up her mind soon or she's gonna fall deep…'  
It never crossed her mind that she had agreed with wolf from before…

Midori sighed.

'I should worry about my own problems. This is theirs not mine.'

The blonde went all the way back to Marco and Thatch who chatted vividly with each other, until she placed the mug next to Marco. Both men looked at her with interest written all over their faces.

"Ah… Midori! Still alive?" Thatch asked amusedly.

He only received a blank look, while she grabbed her backpack- the money safely stowed away inside.

"Is our little girl afraid of Ai?" Marco smirked at her.

At this moment Midori felt searing anger spread through her body. An Anger she could swear was not wholly her own, because, even though she was angry at Marco for taking Ai's love for him so lightly, she was still not that furious.  
Taking a deep breath to will her mind to calm down, she closed her eyes.

'_Feelin' like going crazy, aren't ya?'_  
The bemused sounding voice resounded in her head and Midori tried her best to stay unaffected. Whatever was happening in her head (Maybe she _**was**_ loosing her mind), was not improving her situation and would have to wait until later.

Another deep breath.

The blond opened her eyes again and sighed.

"No and goodnight." The answer was inadvertently chilly. She didn't care.

Without even giving one of them the chance to respond- she was doing that a lot these days- she spun on her heels and left the tavern.  
The first thing she had to do now was to get a hold of her and then search for a decent inn. Midori didn't feel like going back to the ship tonight and if the pirates had a problem with that, she wouldn't give a shit. Fortunately she won enough money from Thatch to stay a **week** in hotels or inns.  
Furthermore she recognized another thing that needed to be researched…  
Ai hadn't been the only one with a wolf by her side, in fact all the inhabitants of the island had wolves with them; all varying in age just like their owners.  
What really got to her, though, was that she _**heard**_ the she-wolf back then. As far as the blonde could recall the situation the wolf hadn't made a single noise which led her to the conclusion that she had heard its **thoughts** and there was also this other voice… had it been a wolf too?  
Maybe this whole thing was related to this bond she is supposed to have with a devilfruit? (She was pretty sure that she had been the only one hearing it.)  
So… was she a Zoan-type then?

"Why do these things always happen to me? AHHHH!" Midori asked loudly groaning at the slowly forming headache.  
"This is so not. my. day!"

Sighing (Another habit she was growing accustomed to these days) she made her way through the busy streets searching for a decent inn. I took her a while, but finally she found one called 'Dark Moon'.  
Okay, the name didn't sound that heartwarming, the atmosphere, however, was calming and the inn was set a bit more secluded then others, she'd come by.

Entering she went straight for the counter. The young man behind it was currently lost in his daydreams.

"Hello."

That snapped the man out of hid daze and made him look up.

"Uhm… hi…" He said scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I'd like to book a room for a night or two." The blonde asked with a smile. The poor guy was already feeling uncomfortable; he didn't deserve any more humiliation, as small as it may be. Besides her mood was nearly back to normal and she was far from being mean let alone angry like less than an hour ago.

"Uhmmm… Do you want to pay now or…?"

"I'll pay later, if that's fine. I am not sure yet how long I am going to stay, you see."

He nodded wordlessly and gave her the key. The blonde chuckled at his shyness.  
After wishing him a good night Midori looked for her room. She opened the door going straight for the bed. Tiredly the girl slumped down the energy draining unusually fast from her body. She expected it though.  
Whitebeard had said that this bond came with quite a bunch of side effects, for example exhaustion. That on the other hand brought her to new realizations. She could hear the wolves because of the devilfruit she was bonded to and she had to learn to control it. Randomly having mood swings and hearing things she didn't even want to hear, which both exhausted her greatly, wouldn't do in the future.  
The Grandline was far too dangerous to forgive such a weakness.

Without recognizing it Midori drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

_Hah! I am done and did definitely update faster this time! :D  
I really hope you like this chapter and will review just as much as the last time (13 reviews I am really happy ^_^!)  
I'd appreciate it very much too, if you could inform me, if I made any major mistakes.  
Thank you~_


	7. Chapter 6: Alcohol is the best cure

‚_Wake up. You have work to do.'_

The blonde groaned in her sleep and curled up into the soft blanket. She was still worn out from the day before and too tired to even move. Moreover did she not listen to strange voices in her head that she couldn't identify as human or _living_. That voice could go to **hell** for all she cared.

'_Wake up!'_

Midori continued to ignore the voice and put her pillow over her head.

'_WAKE UP! DAMN IT!'_

With a jolt she sat up and promptly fell from the bed. Groaning she rubbed the bump forming on her head. Why did nightstands always had to stand in the way?  
The blonde pirate gave the piece of furniture an evil glare.

"Stupid voice…waking me up a-"Muttering curses under her breath she turned to the clock. "6 AM? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

Disbelievingly she stared at the clock. This had to be a bad joke! For once she could have slept in and then something like this happened!  
Midori sighed.  
Going back to sleep was obviously not an options, since this annoying voice wouldn't leave her alone. The only other option though was to get up and have breakfast, but was it really that much of a choice?  
Murmuring something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like '_fucking shitty voice messing with my head'_ she stood up and went to get dressed.

Incredible 15 minutes later the blonde stood in from of the inn.

"Good, I am awake and dressed. What do I have to do now?"

No voice.  
Only Silence.  
The blonde grew irritated.

"You have to be kidding me?"

Still no voice.

Taking a **deep** breath she massaged her temples. Life just wanted to annoy her like usual. Oh and it was doing a fine job!

"Hello."

She turned and came face to face with the young man from the day before. Cocking her head to the side she blinked at him slowly and a _little_ stupidly. They stared at each other for some seconds, then scratched their heads in the same embarrassed manner.

"Ah..Sorry…and hello to you too." Midori said awkwardly.

"Yeah…" The man didn't look very comfortable in his skin either. "I need to talk to you!"  
Somebody wants to get straight to the point here. She noted this with small amusement and nodded in agreement. Maybe she could get some new information out of him (You could never have enough information).

"I believe we should take this conversation somewhere else." He said more to himself than to the blonde woman.

"How about we have a nice breakfast in that case?"

"Good idea!" The young adult looked at her with enthusiasm which made her mood rise considerably. Hopefully the day would turn out better than it had started.  
'Stupid voice, you are not as bad as I thought!' She thought with a grin and followed her companion to a café. Only now the blonde recognized the brown wolf following them. So he was an inhabitant too. Not that it really surprised her, but maybe she would hear his wolf's thoughts or whatever that was she had heard yesterday again. It would proof that this devil fruit she was connected with for unknown reason had to be a Zoan. That or she was simply able to hear the thoughts of wolves.

Watching her surroundings closely she noticed that the café, he had led her to, was at the main street of the town, which was to her amazement buzzing with life. It didn't matter to her though. As long as she was sure that no sane pirate was awake at such an hour, she could care less.

In a good mood and high spirits she sat down across from him. While her counterpart tried to find the right words, she looked him up and down for the first time.

He had hazelnut-brown eyes and brown hair in shade that seemed familiar. His hair was lighter than his eyes which made the latter stand out more. He wore a pair of dark trousers and a cargo shirt. And as far as she had seen, he was a shorter than Marco and Thatch, but not as small as Ai or her.

Midori had to admit that he didn't look that bad…

When he spoke up, her attention shifted back to the reason they came her in the first place.

"I…" He started. "…I will give you every piece of information you want about this island and its inhabitants, if you answer all my questions truthfully."

"Okay."

"Uhm…what?" His surprise was written all over his face making Midori chuckle.

"You didn't think I would agree so was, did you?" She said mockingly.

A blush of embarrassment staining his cheeks he looked away. The blonde pirate was very tempted to laugh at the man, but decided against it for it would not help the situation. He was most likely the best person to ask and she _**really**_ wanted to know more about this island. He seemed to naïve to distrust her and to honest to deceive her.

After he calmed down the questioning began.

"So.. What's your name and why are you with the Whitebeard pirates?"

"I am Midori and well… I guess I am their guest or future crew member, if they get their way."

He gazed at the blonde with calculating eyes.

"And why would they want to make you a crew member?"

"I saved Marco's life."

The man stared at her.

"Do I want to know why?"

She shook her head with a smile.

"No, you don't."

His next question startled her.

"Are you in love with him?"

Midori didn't have to ask whom he meant with _him_. There was only one person aboard the Moby that deserved such a suspicious sounding question. Marco.

"No, I don't." Midori said slowly, but seriously.

An invisible weight fell from his shoulders, as he breathed in. The former tenseness of his body and actions was completely gone and the man smiled. The blonde couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"You were _**worried **_that I was in love with Marco… ?"

"I-I-I d-didn't m-mean i-it _that_ way!" Cheeks flaming with red he stuttered nervously.

A small chuckle escaped her, while the blonde kept on watching her opposite. Her eyes didn't stray from his face, even as she reached for her coffee-she had ordered it after they sat down- and took a sip.

"Ai is my sister."

In retrospect it hadn't been the smartest idea to drink the coffee…  
The blonde spit it out right into the young man's face and began to cough vigorously. Guiltily she observed him trying to clean his shirt, after she could breath freely again.

"Sorry…" She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

"No… Problem." He stared at his ruined short and added. "This was my _favorite_ shirt…"

Midori couldn't help but laugh at his childish pout. To be honest, he actually looked cute, when he had this kicked-puppy-expression. After a minute he gave up and waited patiently, until she had calmed down. The young lad couldn't hide his own amusement though.

"I definitely didn't expect _this_." Midori shook her head in wonder. He smiled sympathetically. "Was this the reason you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes and no…You know about my sister and Marco?"

She nodded in approval.

"Good… Wait, not good…Oh, forget it!" Midori raised an eyebrow at the strange behavior. "Anyway…I think, he will soon and this 'relationship' they have and I am worried about my little sis."

"And what do _**I**_ have to do with this matter?"

He took a deep breath a looked pleadingly at her.

"I want you to help me. I know you don't understand this _yet_, but you are the first woman that shows not interest in that man, yes, even despises him! And I know you want some information about this island and maybe about the pirates too, so…" He trailed off.

"Who…_Who_ told you this?"

A secretive smirk pulled on his lips.

'_That's a well guarded secret, girl.'_

Midori's head snapped around turning in all directions to look for the source of that voice, but…wait.  
Hadn't it come from…? No that was impossible, wasn't it? No, it had happened the day before, too, that means…  
She shook her head to arrange her thoughts.

"I forgot to ask you…What's your name?"

"Oh, sure. The name's Makoto."

"Then, Makoto, could you tell your _dog_ that it's Midori, not 'girl'?"

Have you ever seen a wolf and a human having the same shocked expression?  
The blonde grinned. This was one of those moments, she really missed her camera!

"How…?"

Uhh… Did the boy even know how entertaining he looked when shocked? Probably not, though he obviously was able to think logically for he instantly understood what her words meant.

"No Idea."

"Wha-"

"How about this? I will help you with your sister and in exchange you're going to tell me _everything_ about this island and your sister."

Makoto just gave a dumbfounded nod and started his explanation.

"Fine… I think it's best to start at the very beginning. My mother was an inhabitant of this island and my father is Whitebeard's doctor. I always stayed in this isle, but my sister wanted to see the world a little and became a nurse aboard the Moby Dick. She sailed with them until a year ago. She…She destroyed it all with her jealousy."  
At this point he paused and sighed looking for the right words to continue.  
"She always has had a thing for Marco-I believe- and they had all in all a good start. He, too, had an interest in her, yet it never became serious like with every other woman. At least not for him… I think, you know what her reaction was, don't you?"  
His lips curled into a humorless smile.  
"This time something else happened… She began a _game_. A very dangerous game. She tried to make Marco jealous by acting like she got over him and started to date Thatch. He…"

"He fell in love with her…" She added in a whisper. "Oh god… She tried to start a fight between Nakamas, not to mention **commandants**, out of selfishness! Whitebeard is a fair and loving captain, he can't tolerate such behavior."

The brown-haired man nodded.

"They brought her back here instantly and left without a word… It was the right thing to do…"  
His hands shook in a mix of anger and sadness.

"That was _**not**_ the right way!" Ai's brother stared at her angry tone with surprise. "What she did is by no means easy to forgive, but Ai's punishment was too cruel!"

Makoto stared in wonder at the young woman opposite from him. All this didn't concern her; even so she was utterly furious.

"They took her _**family**_ away… Oh yes, I know how the Whitebeard pirates view each other!"

Midori gritted her teeth and took a deep breath trying to calm back down. This was not that easy, though, for she was too riled up and because Makoto and his pet were starring at her with shock and awe (It _was_ kind of creepy, when an animal showed respect towards you). As long as she stayed on the island, she would have to get used to animals with human traits-and she **would** stay here.  
Whitebeard, or Pops (she preferred the latter, but would never admit it), Marco, Thatch and all the others would not be happy with this decision. The seventeen year old didn't care…much.  
To leave them had been her plan from the beginning, hadn't it? Even though fully joining them sounded…_nice_, she couldn't. She may be safe then, but she wanted her own family back. Staying was a match for replacing her friends and her older Brother. Yes, **they** were her family!  
If they had pushed her away, she would not have taken it as good as Ai did. The girl probably still felt guilty and nobody would ever accept her apology. At this moment Midori decided silently that she was going to help her.

"SHIT!" Makoto's cursing put an end to her inner pondering.  
"I am late for work! Have to go! SORRY!" He said jumping up from his seat and running down the street his wolf at his heels. "SEE YA AROUND!"

Shaking her she turned back to her coffee. A small smile graced her face.

'He really is a nice guy and good older brother.'

For a moment the blonde felt at peace, while she listened to the sounds around her and watched her environment. Adults were talking about the newest gossip, children were laughing happily, as they played tag, and wolves of all ages were accompanying them. The older ones sat patiently next to their owners and cubs frolicked around the children. Everything just boomed with life. Her smile widened. She would have loved to savor the peaceful moment a little longer, but _somebody_ just had to come and ruin it.  
You have three guesses.

"I never thought you could beat Thatch."

Midori looked up, only to lock eyes with a pair of blue ones.

"I never thought I could hate your timing more than I already do."

Marco smirked.  
"So you don't hate me but my timing. I believe we just made a progress."

She chuckled. Her mood was way too good to let it be destroyed so easily.

"Originally, I wanted to meet up with Thatch, but it seemed that our little girl was lonely, after her boyfriend left, and needed urgently company." His voice had this sickly sweet and innocent sound.

Normally she would be alert by now, but strangely nothing happened. This moment of peace had left her far too relaxed to get angry.

"Hmm…No, she isn't lonely, just relaxed. She also is stilly happily single and doesn't plan on changing that anytime soon."

A smirk lit up is face- if it hadn't already been there all the time- and the pirate leaned forward so that their faces were inches apart.

"My, my! She's single!" Marco chuckled. "What a lucky man I am."

"Sure you are."

"So you finally admit that you're interested in me?"

"Not in a millennia." With a satisfied smile she leaned back in her chair and stretched her tired limbs.

"Aww…You're no fun. How shall I seduce you, when you don't take me seriously?" He asked in a very Marco-unlikely-voice. This situation was slowly but surely getting out of hand.

"Because, if you haven't got it by now, I am no one-night-stand and apart from that… Would you like to touch something, when you know that hundreds of others touched it before? I don't think so, especially if it still belongs to somebody else."

"Hmm…" Suddenly he stood up and vanished in the crowd.

'Okay…? What was _that_?' The blonde stared blankly at the space her _admirer_ had sat until a second ago. Different thoughts swirled through her head. 'I highly doubt, he decided to leave me alone. So what is he plan-…Oh shit! Oh goddamn, holy SHIT! I said _"__**still**__ belongs to somebody else"_, didn't I?...he isn't going to do what I think, is he?'

**That** chased the last traces of peace away. A scheming Marco was **never** a good thing and after a conversation like this most likely apocalyptic. She prayed to heaven that he wouldn't do what she thought. He wouldn't be so bold to just run to Ai and dump her, would he?  
She groaned. Who was she kidding? Marco **was** that bold.

She wanted to help Makoto and Ai, not make it worse!

Was it only her or did things like this happen every time she tried to do something?

Somehow fate loved to proof its crude humor. She groaned. It would be wise to stay out of Ai's way for…_ a long time_. Midori couldn't stand her jealousy, when directed at her, and her anger and heartbreak, when Marco would- probably in the next hour- break up with her? Hell no! She wasn't going to face this.  
With another sigh she placed some money on the table and stood up.

'Sooo…what is the smart thing to do now? Maybe I should **finally** gather some information about this island! Oh and shopping would be wise.' Her cheeks took a light pink color. 'I am still wearing Marco's clothes..but that is no reason to blush! I don't even like him!"  
She slapped her forehead and groaned. Again. The blonde decided she didn't like this new habit.

The blonde slowly headed for the shopping district quite content with the sum of money in her backpack. At least her poker skills were reliable.

* * *

With an exhausted sigh but content and loaded with shopping bags Midori let herself fall into a chair of a tavern in the shopping district. This bar was much smaller than the one from yesterday and definitely cozier and more peaceful. It was most likely a hot spot for the townspeople which was confirmed by looking at the clientele. In other words she wouldn't meet any pirates here-hopefully-, although you could never know. For now she was more or less alone and that was more than fine with her.

With a creaking sound the door opened and some familiar and unfamiliar men walked in. In mere seconds all until then free tables were occupied.

'Okay! I never expected my peace to be of long continuance, but-**damnit**- just a hour more wouldn't have hurt anybody!' She whined inwardly. Someone up there hated her. _**Deeply**_.

The newcomers gained the blonde's attention, as the general ambience in the room dropped and like an unspoken plea all inhabitants left the pub. The only ones remaining were Midori and the Whitebeard pirates. What should she do? Go like everybody else?  
That would be the intelligent thing to so, for she barely knew any of the pirates here. None of them had been on the Moby Dick, so they had to be from a sister ship. The _commandants,_ who sat in the other corner of the room, confirmed her hypothesis.

Izou, Curiel and Rakuyou.

They were the only ones who didn't look like…well…like somebody _died_. Not a very positive atmosphere. Midori sighed lightly, started to stand up and would have been gone faster than you could look -None members were obviously unwanted-, if it weren't for the depressed looking men who addresses her in the exact moment.

"Do you mind, if we sat down?"

With a gentle smile the girl nodded. She couldn't deny anything, when the person in question looked so broken hearted. Silently they sat down.  
Neither did Midori really mind their company nor was she by any means a coldhearted person, she had just never been good at comforting strangers and as much as she liked pirates, helping them practically screamed "_I will join you"_ . False hope was the last thing these man needed right now.

Quite a shock, wasn't it?

The blonde girl cared for these men. There had been a time she looked and probably felt like them. Back then life was so…so not worth it. Life had been lonely and hard and dark and…  
Oh _GODDAMNIT_! Midori's face darkened. Just wonderful, hardly ten minutes ago she had been in a good mood and now? She felt as depressed as her companions.

She would have continued her sulking, if one of the men hadn't sighed loud enough for her to hear. He sounded completely desperate and it nettled her to not know why!

Ignoring her own sadness the blonde decided to cheer them up. Screw consequences!

"What happened?" She asked softly.

The pirates blinked at her confusedly like they just woke up from a dream.

"Huh?"

"I asked, what happened?" Her voice still unusually soft.

They needed a moment to process the question, before one pirate answered.

"We lost our commandant a week ago."

Midori stared at them. Wow… she expected everything nut not this. For a Whitebeard pirate the worst thing that could happen was to lose a Nakama. To lose a commandant… It was impossible for her to estimate their loss.

Feverishly she searched her brain for an idea, for _anything_ to cheer them up. Then a sudden idea struck her and she smiled lightly. 'Yeah… this could work…'

"Would you allow me to cheer you up a little?" She asked silently.

"You can't…"

"Let me try. Please."

"…" The men only nodded.

A soft smile reached her lips and she began to sing. The song she had chosen was mellow and accurately what they needed.

"_It's late and I am tired  
wish I could spark a smile.  
The place is flying high,  
but right now I wanna be low._

_Don't wanna move an inch  
let alone a million miles  
and I don't wanna go,  
but I know I gotta go._

_I just want to feel alive._

_The times you don't wanna wake up,  
'cause when you sleep  
it's never over when you give up._

_The sun is always gonna rise up,  
you need to get up,  
gotta keep your head up._

_Look at the people all around you,  
the way you feel  
is something everybody goes through."_

By now all heads in the tavern had turned to Midori. Her skin prickled from all the gazes laying on her, but her eyes were closed and she didn't care. The blonde was fully complying with the song.

"_Dark out,  
but you still gotta lie up.  
You need to wake up,  
gotta keep your face up._

_Seems like the more you grow,  
the more time you spend alone.  
Before you know it,  
you'll end up perfectly on your own._

_The city's shining bright,  
but you don't see the light.  
How can you concentrate  
on things that don't make you feel right?_

_I just want to feel alright._

_The times you don't wanna wake up,  
'cause when you sleep  
it's never over when you give up._

_The sun is always gonna rise up,  
you need to get up,  
gotta keep your head up._

_Look at the people all around you,  
the way you feel  
is something everybody goes through."_

The room was silent. Even the sound of breathing seemed to have vanished, although here and there pirates slowly hummed along, their eyes glassy and their thoughts far away.

"_Dark out,  
but you still gotta lie up.  
You need to wake up,  
gotta keep your face up._

_I'm looking for more than a little bit.  
I'm gonna have to find my way through it.  
I'm gonna leave a mark.  
I'm gonna set a spark.  
I'm coming up off the ground.  
I won't be looking down._

_The times you don't wanna wake up,  
'cause when you sleep  
it's never over when you give up._

_The sun is always gonna rise up,  
you need to get up,  
gotta keep your head up._

_Look at the people all around you,  
the way you feel  
is something everybody goes through._

_Dark out,  
but you still gotta lie up.  
You need to wake up,  
gotta keep your face up."_

Midori opened her eyes a small smile gracing her lips. The pirates around her looked so mesmerized by her lips that she couldn't help but chuckle. Only the commandants appeared unimpressed or it at least looked like it.

"Did I cheer you up…?" The blonde asked in the same mellow voice, she had sung with. "…At least a little?"

No one answered. She sighed. 'Nobody can say that I didn't try…'  
She stood up, grabbed one of the shopping bags and made her way to the toilettes to change in mor decent clothes. However, before she reached the door, somebody addressed her.

"Thanks."

The girl turned around and winked at them.

"You're welcome." She turned back to the door intending to open it, and then she stopped. "Maybe you should go back to your comrades now. To isolate yourself from the people that want make you feel better and those who can understand you, is the stupidest way to react to such a loss."

A last grim smile crossed her face, before she finally disappeared in the toilette.

Several minutes later she came back out.  
Midori now wore a pair of dark blue jeans, a white top with a v-neckline and white, high-heeled sandals. Her platinum blonde, shoulder-length hair was tied up in a lose bum and some particular stubborn flicks of hair fell in her face.

Most tables were empty now and the girl smiled. 'They took my advice to heart.'

Her table was one of the few which were still occupied and it wasn't due to her shopping bags. There at the table three _very_ familiar faces waited watching her with interest. The three commandants. Apparently none of them had left and the interest, they had lacked after her little _show_ was written all over their faces.

'Me and my strange fascination on other people…' She mused.  
Nevertheless she didn't stop walking, until she stood in front of the only unoccupied seat. She glanced at all of them, yet nobody said a word.

"Why don't you sit down? I hope you don't mind that we sit her too, do you?" Izou was the first to speak up and instantly Midori came to the conclusion that his voice didn't fit with his appearance. His words were calm and friendly though.

"Do I even have a choice?" The girl asked amusedly and sat down.

Rakuyou and Curiel grinned and Izou laughed.  
"I believe you do not, Midori-san."

"Am I allowed t know why you know my name?" Her eyebrows rose. 'Uh~…why do I have this feeling that Marco and Thatch will get a clout from me? Or maybe I should relieve those gossiping pirates of their money?'

"Thatch was gushing over a beautiful girl who had a knack for playing poker." Curiel explained. "oh and quite a number of the others agreed with him."

They smirked at her. Midori slapped her forehead and groaned.  
"Memo to myself: kill Thatch…"

All three began to laugh.

"Did I say that out loud?"

They nodded still laughing.

"Oh shit…"

She waited until they calmed down enough, before she asked the question which truly interested the blonde.

"Did Marco say something too?"

All of the three men gave her _that_ look. Midori assumed it meant something along the lines of '_one of __**those**__ again_'.

"Okay. Before you start believing I have the hots for Marco, I simply don't! End of story."

"Are you sure? I mean…"

"Look, I am sick and tired of everybody supposes that every single female being has to fall for him."

Silence. The only thing you could hear was her erratic breathing.

"So Thatch **was** right! There is a woman who is not head over heels for our dear phoenix." Rakuyou said with a small smirk. "It was really stupid of him to dumb Ai."

"Yeah… The poor girl." Izou added.

All color drained from her face. Oh god…Marco did it. He really dumped Ai and why did he do that? Midori wanted to facepalm. Couldn't she have said something that sounded less like 'dump her and you might have a chance with me' ?  
Curiel gave her a puzzled glance.

"Is something wrong?"

The three watched her more closely.

"Where…where is she now?"

"I have no idea. She just stormed out crying…" Izou answered slightly unsettled by the memory.

"Damn it all to hell!" She cursed and jumped up grabbing her bags. "Sorry! Gotta go! See you later!"

"Where are you going?"

"Cleaning Marco's mess up and helping a friend!"

Did…Did she honestly say that Ai was a friend? According to their stunned faces she did. Midori couldn't help but smile bitterly. She knew what it felt like to be left behind and she was going to make her feel better, if Ai wanted it or not.

Her path led her down the busy streets. From time to time she bumped into passersby, the girl couldn't care less. First she would bring her bags back to her room in the inn and then she could start her search. Hopefully luck was on her side. At least once fate, god or whoever could do her a favor.

So caught up in her thoughts the blonde didn't see it coming.

Time slowed down, as she whirled around sharply and locked eyes with a pair of _**bloody-red**_ ones.  
For a mere moment they stared at each other, then as sudden as it came the wolf dashed into the next alley.  
Her feet were glued to the ground, her eyes fixed at the space the wolf (No, _she_-wolf- a tiny voice in the back of her head murmured) had been.  
'What the hell…A she-wolf? Where did that come from?' Midori asked herself. '…and what was this strange feeling? It felt…yeah, it felt like we met before, but how..?'

Unfortunately she was pulled back to reality, as a plumb middle-aged male rushed past her cursing about meat boning wolves.

As strange as this disruption had been, the blonde had more important tasks to fulfill. Regardless she found herself already entering the alley following the mysterious wolf. She definitely needed better control over her thoughts _**and**_ her body!

The wolf led her deeper and deeper in the town's alleys. Maybe she was wrong, but Midori doubted that many people ever came in this small and shadowed alleys. There were very few windows or doors leading into the lanes. All in all this was a big maze full of dead ends; it was a wonder that she hadn't lost her leader yet. Oh, wait. No, she had just lost her.  
'Great. Just so damn fucking great…' Midori huffed in irritation. 'My luck again! Damn… is this a door?'

Slowly she neared the door and blinked at the yellow sigh over the door reading '_Antiquity shop'_.

'What is this shop doing here of all places?'

Although it didn't take long until she stepped through the door. The lights in the room were dim, still she could make out the figures of two wolves and…Ai?

There, in one of the corners sat a girl with an all too familiar mob of hazelnut brown hair. Sobs shook her body and her wolf was huddled against her in comfort.  
Midori's shopping bags dropped to the floor blowing up dust.

"Ai…"

Eyes reddened from hours of crying looked up and widened, only to become slits moments later.

"_**You**_…"

Her voice dripped with venom.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU WHORE!"

With a speed, she never imagines the woman possessed, Ai launched herself at the blonde. Luckily her fighting skills sucked and the only _technique_ she used to attack wasn't a real technique. She merely tried to scratch Midori's eyes out.

Normally her blonde opponent would fight back and simply knock her out, but… it didn't seem fair in that moment, besides Midori neither fought in such a childish way. She fought for real or not at all. Furthermore she was dealing with Ai who was an emotional wreck right now and the angry red strings the green-eyes woman left on her body wouldn't kill her.

At least it didn't take long for her calm down or more like crumple up in Midori's arms drained of all her energy. She sobbed heartbreakingly her body shaking weakly after this nerve straining day.

"Whore.." Ai murmured hoarsely from all the crying and screaming.

"How often do I have to tell you, that I am **not** in love with him?"

"Liar.." She said with a glare.

"Look… I know you don't like me and all… and you have no reason to believe or let alone trust me, but _**damn**_… if I really were head over heels for him, then why I am sitting here with you trying my best to comfort you? And don't come me with bullshit like I am trying to impress Marco, because in all honesty he does give a shit about other people's feelings."

Teary green eyes stared at her unblinkingly, before their owner lowered her head in shame.

"True…"

Midori gave her a soft and understanding smile.

"It's okay. I am only here to look after you. Understood?"

She nodded listening closely to me. Ai was probably trying to find traces of a lie in my words.

"Say… do you even have any friends?"

Again she lowered her had in shame and look of guilt washed over her face. Poor girl indeed.

"I-I…No… I only had Pops and the others… I pushed everybody else away…"

Another wave of sons rocked her body and the blonde held her closer.

"I know… Your brother told me. He is really worried, did you know?"  
There was no sign that she actually listened, but Midori continued anyway.  
"And I really, really think that all the others worry too… Whatever you have done in the past…and I do too…care, I mean…Oh I am not good at this!"

For a moment the corner of Ai's lips turned upwards and the other girl couldn't help but smile too.

"I know you love him, but look… how can you humiliate yourself for somebody you _**love**_, when said person does not even give a damn? If he had really loved you, he would have never let anything of this happen to you… Oh and by the way Marco is surely the last man a woman should **ever** consider falling for. He's just not worth it! End of story!"

Ai was starring at her mixed feelings shone in her eyes like she couldn't grasp all of what had been said yet. Midori wasn't worried. The brown-haired woman had enough time to learn from this.  
Silently Ai hugged her. The blonde was not sure what it meant, although she believed it to be a peace offering.

Suddenly someone clapped. Midori's head turned around and she looked at the old man in surprise. Where did _he_ come from?

"I see Ai, you already got a lecture."

He smiled kindly at both of them and the girls could only return the smile. A gray old wolf, who had followed him, laid down next to a counter she hadn't recognized before pretty much as all the other objects in the room.  
Her attention span was truly short…

"Who is your friend, Ai?"

"She is no-"

"My name is Midori, Sir."

"Oh! Don't be so formally Midori. Just call me Gramps."

"Uhm…Okay."

The old man watched, as they slowly got up from the floor untangling themselves in the process. Really, how could two people just end up so knotted with each other?

"Say Midori…how did you even find this place? It's not very known…"

"The wolf…"

'_Sayo.'_ The strange, female whoever-it-belonged-to-voice said.

"I…I followed _Sayo_ here." She answered a little bugged. Who could blame her? Hearing unfamiliar voices in your head was normally not a good sign.

"How do you know-?" The old man began, but halted, when the third wolf, Sao, sat down at Midori's side and nudged her hand affectionately with its nose. Confused she looked back at the man who in return simply amazed.

"I think we need to talk…"

"That's fine with me…" She interrupted him glancing at Ai who silently watched everything. "…but if it's important then could I get something to drink?"

He nodded and mentioned her to follow him.

"Something to drink?" Ai asked startled.

The blonde looked at her.

"Let me put it like this… my day was far, _far_ to _thrilling_ for my taste and before anyone will shock me with another thing, I need a good glass of rum."

Ai needed understandingly and followed the old man out of the room.  
Yeah… this day had been far too exciting until now-it wasn't even lunchtime- and I had the vigorous feeling that one bottle of rum wouldn't be enough. Nonetheless whatever she had expected to come after her drink, it hadn't been _this._

* * *

_Nearl 6000 words…woah, not even I thought it'd be that long!_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will review (I love reviews ;D). Thanks to all the people who reviewed last time or added this story to their favorites. Thanks to everybody in general for reading this! _

_The song is 'face up' by Lights by the way ;)_


	8. Chapter 7: I am not this girl!

The whole pub was staring.

Okay, maybe not the _whole_ pub, but at least every pirate that knew the two girls happily chatting in the corner. This included a bewildered looking Thatch and an annoyed Marco.  
Although you couldn't blame a single one of them, the two women had had a –one-sided- dislike until yesterday. Marco didn't like that development _**one bit**_. He could swear they were here, in this particular bar, on purpose.  
Oh, if he knew how right he was~

But you might ask yourself now, why the two were all alone at their table and not even Marco or Thatch tried to get near them.  
Well, Midori's new companion was not very _sympathic_. Well, to be perfectly honest the she-wolf, Sayo, growled at **anybody** who came in a seven feet radius of their table. A likeable wolf, wasn't she?

It was much more interesting though how this whole situation came to be…

_The blonde's eyes were focused on the face of the old man in front of her, not even blinking once. With trembling she grabbed the glass of Whiskey harder, fighting the urge to empty it in one go or better add some rum first.  
This _had_ to be a bad dream, hadn't it?!_

"_C-Could you say that again?"_

_The old man, Masao, did not answer. Instead he took in her reaction trying to read Midori like a book. _

"_Only inhabitants of this island have a wolf as their partner and only they are __**able**__ to have one. So I believe you are born here."_

"_N-No that i-is completely impossible…I mean…I r-really cannot be born here…" Her mind was racing a mile per minute and every word she said, was not spoken consciously. All of this didn't make sense, but the old man surely knew more about this island than she did. _God_, was this confusing!_

"_And your parents?" Masao harshly interrupted her musings._

"_No. There is..I mean... absolutely no way. No I-" The blonde rubbed her temples trying to form a coherent sentence. "What I want to say is that I am hundred percent sure that neither my parents nor anybody else in my family -for that matter- comes from this island!"_

"_What makes you so sure?" The old man eyed the breathless and nervous girl in front of him with sharp eyes._

_Silence._

"_I-…I just know it." _ 'And because I am not born in this _world_ so it's very unlikely that I have any ties to this place_.' Midori kept the last part wisely to herself. No need to give him the impression of her being totally crazy._

_A sudden surge of emotions struck her, as she was again reminded how far away from _home_ she was right now. Would anybody even miss them? Her friends' parents surely would. They loved their daughters dearly after all, but would __**he**__ care? The girl doubted that this man would shed a single tear for her. Her brother was a different story. He had always been the replacement for the son their guardian never had. Looked like nobody was going to miss her...  
The only persons that gave a damn about her had been on the boat which sunk in the storm weeks ago._

_A bitter chuckle escaped her lips._

'_Great Midori just continue to remind you how nobody cares what happens to you.' Another bitter chuckle followed this thought, but she was used to this kind of situation anyway._

_She had after all spent nearly a decade on finding just a handful of people who actually cared and whom she could blindly rely on. That had been hard earned trust and the blonde had always been aware how precious it was. And now?_

_There was not the slightest clue, if her brother and her best friends were still __**alive**__. (Although she never dwelled too long on this thought)_

"_Are you fine?" The old man across from her asked worriedly. Masao had notice that he had stirred up unwanted memories._

"_Huh?...Oh..Yes…Yes, I am fine." The girl offered a tired smile. "Just thinking."_

_Being a smart old man Masao let the matter slip, because he was not close enough to the girl to expect honesty about her troubles._

"_Obviously I threw off balance with my explanation, but would you mind to answer me this question? How did it come that you set foot on this isle?"_

_Midori smiled gratefully for letting the former matter be and starting a conversation about a new topic._

"_I came with the Whitebeard pirates as their… _guest_…"_

"_With Eddie?"_

_**That**__ earned Masao a confused glance (No seriously, Midori was completely floored). Whitebeard was called a lot of names, most of those she had heard were either 'Pops' or 'Father', but 'Eddie'?!_

_While the man was laughing at her flabbergasted expression, Midori took a gulp from her drink._

"_Ahh… I guess for an outsider it sounds _unfitting."

'_Unfitting? __**Unfitting**__? The only thing I can say to this is What. The. Hell?!'_

"_Ah…" He laughed again. "I presume there are few people who know that this island is the island Edward Newgate was raised at."_

_The glass dropped shattering on the floor a second later.  
The girl stared wide-eyed at him._

_Masao chuckled at her again slowly walking forward to help Midori who had instantly kneeled down to pick up the shards.  
With outmost care they collect the pieces. A task which is especially hard on the blonde's part. After all it's not an everyday occurrence that old men explain to you that you're on the birth island of your captain (the use of Whitebeard's title is unconsciously dismissed). Wait. She was on his birth island or wasn't she?_

" _The old man was born here, wasn't he?"_

"_Hm?" brown eyes turned to her. "No, he wasn't. A young woman found him, when he was still a baby. The pirates who raided the island left him here."_

_She observed him silently noting the bitter and melancholy tone of his voice._

"_What happened to her?"_

_The old man's lips pulled in a humorless smile, which she mirrored unintentionally. _

"_She died."_

"_I figured so much."_

"_Then why are you asking?" _

_Yes. Why was she asking? Why was she prying into other people's affairs? Normally she left everybody alone and was left alone in return. So __**why**__?  
Even before her mind could find the right answer, her lips took the load off her. _

"_It's important… I think…"_

_Calculating brown eyes searched for the answer in her grey ones like they did minutes ago. And just like some minutes ago they found nothing. Or maybe too much to comprehend at once?  
He sighed and straightened himself up._

"_This island had a lot of problems in the past. Mostly pirates raiding everything we had." He smiled coldly. "A young woman without a man but a baby taking in an orphaned infant had a hard time then and the inhabitants weren't of any help. They practically excluded her! Still she lived life to the fullest and was great mother for her __**two**__ children. Fate though had different plans."  
With every word his voice grew sadder and Midori couldn't help but let a soft smile grace her lips. _

"_Again…Pirates changed her course of life. They attacked the town and… Ai didn't make it out alive… Edward was lucky. He had left to travel the see just some weeks before. This island had never truly meant home to him…"_

"_Ai?" Her voice sounded disbelieving._

_The old man chuckled lightly._

"_Yes Ai. I know what you're thinking this Ai and our Ai don't have much in common. Sometimes I wish that my granddaughter would be a little more like her deceased aunt."_

_Dark grey eyes widened. AUNT? That meant…_

"_She was your daughter"_

_Heavy Silence filled the room._

"_Yes, she was…"_

"_You're hurting."_

"_Yes, I do."_

"_You don't like this theme."_

"_Yes, I don't."_

"_So why are you telling me this. I am a __**stranger**__."_

"_I know." He closed his eyes rubbing his temples with a tired sigh. "Call me crazy, but you look exactly like Aka, Ai's daughter. She vanished after the raid."_

_This time the silence settling over them felt uncomfortable, at least on Midori's part. Not being able to bear the tension any longer the girl stood up briskly._

"_Don't compare me to someone I am not."_

_About to walk away she froze at his next words._

"_Sayo belonged to Aka."_

_Midori balled her hands into fists, but otherwise remained calm. Inwardly everything was thrown into turmoil. There were enough problems to deal with and suddenly there is a stranger telling her she was somebody else?! Somebody who belonged here. She was already confused at it was! And now she was losing her hold on reality again as she did, when the whole ship-wrecking-accident happened.  
This time she wasn't going to take it!_

"_I __**am not**__ that girl! Alone due to the time age difference it's impossible and the connection to Sayo could also be a result of my bond with whatever devilfruit was chosen for me!"_

_Masao took in her riled up form in silence. Breathing in deep the old man stifled his melancholia and focused on the girl's words._

"_Bond? Devil fruit? Tell me about it."_

_The change of subject brought the intended result. Midori relaxed noticeably and gladly engaged herself in the new topic._

"_Honestly? There's not much to say about it. Actually I don't know much more than that it exists."_

"_So you have no idea what devil fruit you're bonded with?"_

"_Nope."_

"_Or where this bond comes from?"_

_She shook her head._

"_Well I assume that you haven't thought about what kind of devilfruit it is?"_

"_Uhm…No"_

_The old man chuckled again._

"_I believe you're dealing with a Zoan type here."_

"_Sounds logical and explains why I can talk with Sayo."_

_Masao laughed full-heartily the uncomfortable conversation from before seemingly forgotten. Midori, too, liked the old man much more, when he was happy. Being sad somehow didn't suit him.  
Her problems hadn't decreased in the slightest, but at least the tension was finally gone._

"_Now…" her opposite started catching her attention. "What do you plan for the future?" He asked in the tone of a grandfather who determined your old enough to begin thinking seriously about your future.  
"Do you want to get yourself a name serving under the infamous 'Whitebeard' or do you have different plans?"_

_The blonde looked wordlessly at the wall behind Masao.  
And the tension was back. Just great._

"_You don't want to continue your journey with them, do you?"_

"_No." She stated._

"_You are aware that those men care about you and would be very happy, if you continued traveling with the, aren't you? You are their friend, Midori."_

_The girl felt like he slapped her. 'Friends…' She thought bitterly. She didn't want to be their friend! It would only make saying goodbye so much harder. After all… She liked her place among them… a little._

"_I will leave them." Even in her own ears her answer wasn't as stern as she had wanted it to sound. Masao didn't comment on it though._

"_I guess I can't change your mind then?"_

"_No."_

_He smiled at her sadly._

"_You have to do what you believe is right for you…"_

_Pausing in his speech His gaze flickered to the door and then back at her. Taking the hint Midori stood up grabbed her bag and turned to walk away._

"…_but for now, you should go back to the pub with Ai and talk to your _Nakamas_."_

_Before she once for all left the room, the blonde turned around and looked at the old man (Later she would realize it was the first and last time, she did so)._

"_Thank you."_

_A sincere smile graced her lips, as she walked out. The girl never say Masao glance at an old dusty picture with a melancholy smile. It showed a beautiful brown-haired woman, a blonde teenage boy with wavy hair and teenage girl with platinum blonde shoulder length hair and dark grey eyes…_

"_Just like you Aka… She looks just like you…"_

"You know…" Midori glanced up at Ai. "…you should really tell them that you won't join them."

She sighed.

For a better understanding, the blonde girl had explained the situation to her new friend- yes, it had been a fast way from foe to friend- which included her wish to leave the pirate crew and what Masao had told her beforehand, although she had wisely left out the part about her aunt's and Whitebeard's past. If her grandfather wanted her to know, he would have to talk about it with his granddaughter himself. Anyway, the brown-haired woman had greatly approved of her wish and had even offered to accompany her on her journey. As strangely as it sounded, but Midori didn't mind the idea much. Not that traveling with Pops, Thatch and Marco was unpleasant, Ai was simply different… (Was it because she was a girl?)

"I don't want say it so openly and without warning."

"Well, then I guess you have uhhmm… a few hours left until Whitebeard will officially introduce you to the crew. If I were you, I would hurry up a little."

"You know that you so incredibly helpful right now?"

"That's me~." The woman said smiling brightly at her.

Midori rolled her eyes. Ai was a crazy chick. There was no doubt about it. At least Marco wasn't here to ruin this strange moment of friendship.

"Now, now… What a strange pair, I see here, ne~?"

'When you speak of the devil' Midori thought darkly and directed her gaze at the newcomer.

"Couldn't you chase him off or something?" She murmured to Sayo who was currently lying to her feet.

'_Why should I?'_

"He's annoying."

'_Not my problem.'_

"Is it possible that you like to see me suffer?"

'_Well…It's fun to watch you squirm.'_

"Goddamn dog."

"Uhm…Midori…" She continued to ignore her surroundings.

'_You are aware that we can talk through our thoughts, aren't you?'_

"Are you talking with a dog?" Marco asked in a smug voice and a smirk not seeing Sayo's ears twitch in annoyance.

'_Who are you calling a dog, Pineapple-head?!'_

Naturally Marco didn't hear the she-wolf, though he definitely heard the low growl. **That** on the other hand raised Midori's mood by a great deal and she felt playful.

"Maybe I am." She returned the smirk eyes shining with mirth. Maybe this could turn out quite funny.

"And?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" The fake innocence practically oozed from her words.

"What will be your first words to your new _Nakamas_, when you're officially in of us?"

Instantly Ai chocked on her drink and the blonde's playfulness died as fast as it came. Marco only raised an eyebrow.

"I won't join."

His smirk too went down the drain and his eyes gained a sharpness that scared her- a feeling she had _**never**_ felt with Marco before. His voice, however, was calm, as he spoke up.

"You want to tell me, you-a marine back then- saved my life with no reason, gained the sympathy of many man and the friendship of some, helped their comrades **still** without a reason and in addition impressed four commanders. You even gained Pop's respect and you just throw it away?"

The only things that showed the anger behind his words were his eyes. The blue orbs were ablaze with a fire so very similar to the flames of the mythical creature he symbolized.

"This had been my plan from the beginning and there'll be no other way. Accept it."

An uncomfortable silence followed her words. The atmosphere around them turned gloomy and cold, if it weren't for the searing anger radiating from Marco.

As much as Midori disliked the thought (She couldn't really explain why, though) of Marco as somebody dangerous, powerful and intimidating, she just couldn't get it out of her head. Until now everything had seemed so easy, so _safe_… but these feelings were gone and the gravity of her decision dropped on her shoulders with its full weight. She has lost friends, she hadn't realized she made.

The pang in her heart was punishment enough.

It seemed that Marco saw the pain in her eyes, because his own softened a little, before he turned around.

"You should think your decision over."

He gave her a last final look, a _last_ chance.

"No."

This answer was final.  
And a hurtful one for that matter, because those people-those who _cared_- wouldn't be happy at all. No, they most likely felt betrayed the moment they heard of her decision. She supposed that there was no other way. Not when she still didn't know what happened to her friends, her brother! Not until that question was answered. If they actually died in the storm, it would be the only respectable thing she could do for them. Find the truth.

Looking almost heartbroken she stared at Marco's retreating back.

Almost.

"Ai? I'll come back later, okay? Wanna catch a little sleep, if you don't mind." The smile accompanying her words looked awfully forced.

Midori noted thankfully that Ai plainly ignored it and told her with a nod that she was free to leave.

Without hast and looking back she left the pub all the while ignoring those who called out to her. A few minutes later she was back in the inn. Nobody familiar had crossed her path and she liked it this way. When the blonde finally reached her room and the door snapped shut behind her, Midori collapsed on her bed far too tired to change out of her clothes.  
Guilt gripped her tightly, as she curled into a ball. A humorless chuckle escaped her lips. Already… already she regretted her decision. Somehow she wished that she wouldn't have left Sayo with Ai, otherwise the wolf could reassure her now.

Unhappily the girl closed her eyes and fell after endless minutes of turning and tossing in her bed into a nightmarish slumber…

_I know, I know… My update is late as usual. Unfortunately I seem to be stuck with this chapter and so I decided I would split it and upload it in two separate chapters instead of one long chapter (I thought you would all rather read something now than wait any longer….)_

_Disowner: One Piece doesn't belong to me…unfortunately._

_Soooo…here it is and I hope you'll review, even though I am late…again…_

_Hopefully I'll find enough time to update the next chapter within the next week, I definitely hope for it!_

_Thanks to everybody for reading, faving, following the story and reviewing! All of you make my day! :D_

_Ps.: Please ignore the spelling mistakes. Nobody is perfect ;D_


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